MONROE COUNTY, N.Y. — The Monroe County Legislature passed a vote Tuesday to approve federal funds from Operation Stonegarden.
The county has been getting these funds for the past 15 years. But recently, there’s been pushback over federal immigration enforcement’s activities nationwide.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says the money from Operation Stonegarden will go toward extra law enforcement patrols and equipment near Lake Ontario’s coast, closest to the Canadian border. But critics say accepting any funds from the Department of Homeland Security at this time can be a threat to immigrant neighbors.
Many public speakers at Tuesday’s Monroe County Legislative meeting wanted to pass a message onto legislators — vote no on Operation Stonegarden.
“I understand that this grant goes back many years. The difference this year is that the Trump administration has instituted a vile campaign to rid the country of everyone who is not a U.S. citizen,” one resident said.
“Do not be complicit in allying yourselves, ourselves, our county government, with the current wave of anti-immigrant aggression,” another resident said.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office would receive the funding — $160,000 — keep some for itself and distribute the rest to police in border towns like Greece, Irondequoit and Webster. But the funding doesn’t force these departments to work with federal immigration officers. In fact, there’s already a state law preventing that.
“Those are our federal operations. These are more of a local operation. These are local operations. There’s no immigration enforcement. They’re not working with ICE or Customs and Border Patrol, actively stopping vehicles, interacting, doing interdictions like you see on TV,” said Republican Leader of the Legislature Sean McCabe.
McCabe says this funding would help fund officers in his district of Greece.
“Overtime for our officers again patrolling along the lake. Benefits that are covered for those officers,” McCabe said.
But legislators like Rachel Barnhart feel the amount of money received isn’t worth the cost of working with federal immigration agencies.
“This grant would pay for some overtime, a license plate reader, speed reader and an ATV,” Barnhart said.
“If they want to, they can come to the legislature and ask. And if they make a case, I’m sure we would fund those those things, but we should not take $160,000, which is a very small amount of money in the context of the Sheriff’s Department budget, in exchange for a partnership with Customs and Border Patrol, which is a rogue agency that violates the rights of immigrants in our country,” Barnhart said.
The final vote passed 17 to 12.
Ten county legislators who voted against accepting the funds released a statement Tuesday saying in part: “We appreciate the assurances that these funds are not being used to conduct immigration raids or enforce federal immigration law. Nevertheless, we believe the County should continue to exercise caution when entering into programs that can blur those lines in the public’s perception and potentially erode confidence in local government.”
Monroe County Legislature votes 17-12 to accept $160,000 in federal Operation Stonegarden funds amid immigration concerns WHEC.com.
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