BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Community Justice Project have filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County against Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran after the sheriff unilaterally and illegally entered into an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, seeking to effectively deputize local law enforcement to operate as immigration agents. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Make The Road Pennsylvania, NAACP Bucks County, the BuxMont Unitarian Universalists, and an impacted Bucks County resident.
The Sheriff entered into the agreement, commonly called 287(g) agreements, without the authorization of Bucks County Board of Commissioners, who serve as the county’s governing body. The county commissioners have since codified their opposition to the agreement in a vote formally disavowing the sheriff’s actions.
Such agreements have been proven to open the door to harmful and insidious racial profiling, poor jail conditions, and other civil rights violations, all of which expose the county and its taxpayers to legal liability.
“You don’t have to go back very far into recent history to see how futile and fruitless these types of agreements have been in other Pennsylvania counties,” said Stephen Loney, senior supervising attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “Local law enforcement is not equipped to operate as immigration agents and often make serious mistakes that can put the lives and livelihoods of those they target in serious jeopardy and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Bucks County deserves better.”
“At a time when radical and reactionary anti-immigration elected officials assume that they can act with impunity to implement a chaotic and cruel agenda targeting immigrants across the United States, it’s critical to send a message that nobody is above the law,” said Witold Walczak, legal director at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “Sheriff Harran is no exception.”
"Sheriff Harran has blatantly overstepped his authority by enrolling Bucks County in a 287(g) agreement, a reckless decision that weaponizes local law enforcement to carry out ICE’s harmful agenda. This policy isn’t about safety—it’s about intimidation. It spreads fear through our neighborhoods, forcing our friends, families, and community members into the shadows, and destroying trust in those who are supposed to protect us," says Karen Rodriguez, member of Make the Road Pennsylvania and Bucks County resident. "If the sheriff truly cared about public safety, he would be working to strengthen our communities, not terrorizing them. Bucks County deserves leadership that prioritizes unity and safety, not division and fear.”
The lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction that would prevent the agreement from taking effect.
You can read the full legal filing at aclupa.org/SheriffHarran
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