Oakmont, Springdale take opposite directions amid growing ICE tensions

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By LAJJA MISTRY, CHARLIE WOLFSON AND RICH LORD
Pittsburgh’s Public Source

Springdale and Oakmont boroughs, three miles apart, have at least three things in common: • Allegheny River frontage

• Overwhelmingly white and native-born populations

• Recent well-publicized detentions by ICE. They also have an important difference: Whereas Springdale officials have defended their agreement to cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement crackdown, Oakmont is weighing a resolution not to collaborate. They stand on opposite ends of the spectrum of local responses to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

In neither community, per Census Bureau estimates, is more than 1 in 50 residents foreign born. But they have become Southwestern Pennsylvania’s ICE flashpoints in the wake of a Minneapolis immigration crackdown that has divided the nation.

On Jan. 29, ICE agents arrested Jose Flores, originally from Nicaragua, outside of his home as he was preparing to take his daughter to school. The Oakmont Bakery employee was released on Feb. 7 after a high-profile campaign and apparent intervention by U.S. Sen. David McCormick of Pennsylvania and other elected officials.

On Feb. 10, Springdale Borough police pulled over Randy Cordova Flores, originally from Peru and seeking asylum, for a failure to use his turn signal, according to family members. Police turned him over to ICE, and that agency’s detainee locator said Monday that he was being held in its Moshannon Valley processing center, in Clearfield County.

Tonight, both municipalities and one of the involved school districts will meet and likely hear discussion of their stances.

Oakmont council may vote on a resolution meant to ensure that borough police don’t cooperate with ICE.

Springdale council could hear from residents concerned with the Cordova Flores arrest and borough cooperation with ICE under an agreement known as a 287(g).

At the Allegheny Valley School District board meeting member Amy Sarno will present a Welcoming Schools policy based on a template produced by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Will local actions matter?

David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who specializes in law enforcement issues, said a local ordinance prohibiting police cooperation with ICE does nothing to prevent ICE from operating in that place. He said it could have the opposite effect local officials desire.

“It makes them more likely to attract ICE attention,” Harris said. “The people driving this whole thing at the top want to use this whole enforcement operation nationwide not just to deport people but to perform these policies, to show that they are being put in place to scare people and to show that nobody can stand in their way.

“So paradoxically, putting up a statement that we are not going to cooperate may actually attract attention from ICE. They’ll know that they won’t get help from the local law enforcement agency, but it may encourage them to have an operation just because they want to show they can’t be stopped.”

Harris added that municipalities’ decisions to have their police cooperate with ICE or not is most of all a matter of perception.

“What’s at stake here is whether or not the particular police department or sheriff’s office is seen by the public as part of the deportation operations of ICE,” Harris said. “And that’s critical to how the public views that agency.”

Harris said many police leaders want no part of immigration enforcement for this reason.

“They know that if they are seen … as part of the ICE deportation effort, there are certain people in their community who will stop trusting them, stop calling them, stop reporting things to them, things they need to know to make their communities safe,” Harris said.

Jason Lando, the new chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police (the county’s largest law enforcement agency), was unequivocal during his confirmation hearing before City Council earlier this year.

“We’ve spent so much time and so much effort trying to build relationships in our communities,” Lando said to council, according to WESA. “This would be like us throwing that all out the window and taking steps backwards, if I were to say, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna take up immigration enforcement as one of our duties.’ We just don’t do that.”

Schools revisit safety policies

Most school districts don’t have police, let alone an immigration enforcement role, but ICE has been active nationally on or around some K12 campuses. That prospect is prompting districts including Oakmont and Springdale to craft or shore up policies on addressing potential ICE visits.

The detainment of Jose Flores prompted the Riverview School District in Oakmont to approve a student and staff safety policy last week.

Board President Antonio Paris, who introduced the policy during a public meeting on Feb. 2, said, “I think that [Flores’ detainment] really shook the core of our community as a whole, but also as our district. Because we may not have thought that that was possible in Oakmont. I think we continue to learn that anything is possible.”

The policy — approved 8-0 with one abstention — outlines guidance for district employees for interacting with law enforcement authorities such as the local police department; Children, Youth and Families services; state police and federal agencies such as ICE and DHS. It aims to comply with federal and state immigration laws and protect student safety, privacy and access to education on school grounds.

The policy also directs the superintendent to appoint one or more administrators to serve as law enforcement response officials.

Board member Leanne Jacobs-Rohan noted the new policy doesn’t introduce meaningful changes. “I believe it was just made to look like the board was doing something during a heated time,” she said.

Paris, an attorney, said the policy sets “parameters” for the district and “gives the administration fallback.”

“They are doing now what they have been instructed to do versus what they think or what they’re being kind of guided to do, and so it takes the onus off of our administrators,” he said, noting that the policy follows Pennsylvania School Boards Association guidelines.

Board member Adeshewa Metzger said the policy would make it easier for parents to find clear information in a single document.

Superintendent Neil English said it “wouldn’t hurt” to adopt such a policy.

In Allegheny Valley School District, which encompasses Springdale Borough, Springdale Township, Cheswick and Harmar, at least one board member is encouraging the district to adopt a similar policy following Cordova Flores’ detention.

Cordova Flores lived in Springdale for about three years before his arrest and has two children in the district, according to his sister.

The board met on the evening of his detention, at which time member Amy Sarno discussed the ACLU’s “Welcoming Schools” policy template, which she suggested the board adapt for the needs of the district.

One parent, whose husband was born in Guatemala, pressed the board to take steps to ensure students and families feel safe following Cordova Flores’ detention.

“We are fearful for ourselves and for our community members who are at higher risk of being targeted,” Judah Marroquin told the school board.

Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at lajja@publicsource.org.

Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

Rich Lord is the managing editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at rich@publicsource.org.

Jamie Wiggan contributed. This article first appeared on Pittsburgh’s Public Source and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.