ACLU of Vermont sues for access to Essex County sheriff's records on immigration communications

A local law enforcement agency suspected of violating Vermont's fair and impartial policing policy is refusing to provide copies of records related to communications with federal immigration agents, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In an interview with Community News Service in December, Essex County Sheriff Trevor Colby expressed frustration with proposed updates to the Fair and Impartial Policing policy — which have since been adopted — and said that his department contacted immigration authorities when they encountered individuals suspected of being in the country without authorization.

Lia Ernst, legal director of the ACLU of Vermont, told Vermont Public on Tuesday that Colby's remarks suggest the Essex County Sheriff's Department is violating a statewide policy that seeks to prevent the collaboration between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies.

“The comments … suggest that, of course, the agency, if it suspected that someone was here without authorization, would contact federal immigration authorities,” Ernst said.

The ACLU decided to investigate his suspicions by filing a public records request seeking all communications between the Essex County Sheriff's Department and federal immigration agents.

Ernst said the department informed her in early April that the records were available for in-person inspection. But the department denied the ACLU's request to receive copies of the records electronically.

Ernst said the department's insistence on in-person inspection of records violates a key principle of the public records law.

“The principle at stake here… is an essential element in ensuring that the Public Records Act fulfills its mandate to provide for free and open examination of records so that citizens can be accountable for what their government does on their behalf “, she said. said.

For people who can't leave their jobs during business hours, Ernst said, being able to access public records electronically might be the only way to exercise their rights under the law. And she said in-person records inspections can be particularly problematic for victims of police misconduct.

“If a person believes they have been the victim of misconduct by agents of a particular agency, you can certainly understand why they would not want to go in and examine the records of that misconduct at the very agency that they are. she accuses of having done this,” Ernst said.

Colby said Tuesday he was unable to comment on the pending lawsuit and told Vermont Public he had retained an attorney for the case.

Ernst said the records are key to determining whether the department is potentially contributing to the detention and deportation of migrant farm workers and other Vermonters living in the state without authorization.

“There is no point in local law enforcement engaging in immigration enforcement when we know it pushes communities underground and deters people from being willing to report to the police or to serve as witnesses to the police,” she said. “And ultimately, Vermonters have expressed loud and clear that they do not want local law enforcement to be part of the immigration enforcement apparatus.”

Do you have questions, comments or advice? Send us a message.