Danville, Pa. — Multiple traffic stops in the Danville area led to the detention of people suspected of being in the country illegally Sept. 2, while a separate account from an immigrant-rights organization alleges that federal immigration agents arrested at least 41 workers at a construction site at Geisinger Medical Center that same day.
Mahoning Township police officers conducted traffic stops for alleged violations and, after determining that some occupants were in the country illegally, transferred them to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, Police Chief Fred Dyroff said.
The activity came as Mahoning Township and other area law enforcement agencies have expanded their cooperation with federal immigration authorities through 287(g) agreements. Mahoning Township entered into its agreement with ICE in April, allowing designated officers to assist with certain immigration enforcement duties.
Dyroff said the department has developed a good working relationship with an ICE processing center in Williamsport and compared the arrangement to cooperation between local police and other federal agencies, such as the FBI.
“It isn't the first time and it won't be the last time,” Dyroff said of the department's cooperation with ICE.
Township Supervisor Chairman Bill Lynn said the township's primary focus is on people who are in the country illegally and have criminal records.
Rights group disputes police claims
The Centre County Rapid Response Network, an immigrant-rights organization, offered a significantly different account of the Sept. 2 activity, claiming ICE agents, with assistance from Danville police, stopped workers as they left an EwingCole construction site at Geisinger Medical Center and arrested at least 41 people.
The organization claimed workers leaving the hospital were stopped at exits, while other workers were followed from the edges of the Geisinger property to their homes. It also alleged that checkpoints were established near highway entrances and that drones were used during the operation. The claims were included in a Sept. 8 press release from the organization.
The organization described the operation as an immigration raid and said the workers included people from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and other countries. It claimed some of those arrested were being held at the Clinton County Jail.
The network also alleged that ICE returned to the Geisinger site Tuesday morning, Sept. 8, and arrested one additional person.
The group's claims have not been independently verified, and its description of the operation differs from the information provided by local police.
Local cooperation with ICE
The Sept. 2 arrests come amid an expansion of 287(g) agreements in the region. Dyroff said multiple municipalities in Columbia and Montour counties have entered into agreements with ICE. The Centre County Rapid Response Network similarly identified Danville Borough, the Montour County Sheriff's Office, and Mahoning Township as having 287(g) agreements.
Under the 287(g) program, participating local law enforcement agencies can assist federal immigration authorities in specified circumstances. The Centre County Rapid Response Network is opposed to the program and said such agreements have expanded ICE's reach into routine local policing.
The organization called on Pennsylvania officials to limit cooperation and data sharing with federal immigration authorities and urged municipalities to adopt policies restricting local participation in immigration enforcement.
The Sept. 2 activity marks another instance of immigration enforcement occurring alongside routine local law enforcement operations in the Danville area, as municipalities continue to determine how they will work with federal immigration authorities.