Mayor’s Statement: ICE Enforcement in Sleepy Hollow

Photo: Facebook

On the morning of January 28, at approximately 10:00am, the Sleepy Hollow Police Department was notified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they would be attempting to serve a civil immigration warrant for two individuals, each of whom had a criminal record. While there has been no indication that either of the two individuals were served, I want to be clear about the following: the Sleepy Hollow Police Department is not and was not involved with the serving of these warrants.

Residents should be aware that the Sleepy Hollow Police Department’s own regulations, consistent with New York State and Westchester County law, prohibit members of the police department from engaging in law enforcement activities solely for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law, unless required to do so by a judicial warrant or other federal law. To be clear, the police officers in Sleepy Hollow will not stop, question, or interrogate any individual based solely on their immigration or citizen status, nor will they investigate or arrest anyone based on a civil immigrant warrant, which is the type of warrant that ICE brought to Sleepy Hollow yesterday. Sleepy Hollow police officers will not detain persons on these types of warrants, nor solely on the suspicion that such persons have entered or remained in the United States unlawfully.

The Sleepy Hollow Police Department’s regulations comply with all Federal, State and local laws and have the interest of all residents at the center of its policies. We have not been notified of any other ICE enforcement elsewhere in the Village.

As Mayor of The Village of Sleepy Hollow I am focused on enhancing the quality of life for our residents by ensuring that they feel safe and welcome. I do not want a sense of fear in our Village, but instead I want to encourage an environment in which every resident:

  1. Feels secure in their home or when traveling to work
  2. Feels safe reporting a crime
  3. Is confident and able to visit their doctor or a hospital
  4. Is excited to safely send their children to school each and every day

I want a high quality of life for all of our residents without an environment of fear in our community and we will continue to work to make this possible.

– Martin Rutyna, Mayor, Village of Sleepy Hollow

Recommended For You

About the Author: User Submitted