Philipstown Updates Immigration Policy

Requires feds to provide judicial warrant
A policy passed in 2017 to forbid Philipstown employees from participating in immigration enforcement has been revised to specify that access to personal data and town facilities is banned without a judicial warrant or court order.
An ad hoc committee's changes to the town's "equal protection" policy were unanimously approved by the Town Board on Thursday (April 9). The policy bans town employees and contractors from collecting information about immigration status or disclosing personal information such as names, addresses and Social Security numbers, without an order or warrant from a federal judge.
It also bars officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies from nonpublic areas without a warrant or court order. If an employee is served with a judicial or an administrative warrant — documents issued by the agencies without a judge's signature — they are not to allow access to data or nonpublic areas. Instead, they must give the warrant to the town clerk, who will notify the supervisor and town attorney.
Judy Farrell, a member of the Town Board, suggested the revision in February. At that time, she said the new language was designed to protect personal data, not immigration status, which the town does not collect. "It's about requiring judicial process, which residents are entitled to under the Constitution, and to make sure our town staff aren't sharing residents' information," she said.
Following Supervisor John Van Tassel's recommendation, the policy will take effect in June to allow training for town employees. "I don't think it's fair to put an employee in a position that they're going to implement a policy without prior training to the actual policy," he said.
Philipstown's original equal-protection policy passed, by a 3-2 vote, in April 2017, with "no" votes from Van Tassel, then a councilor, and Bob Flaherty, who voted on Thursday for the revised guidance. It similarly barred town employees from aiding immigration investigations or arrests unless required by state or federal law or a judge's order.
That same month, the Beacon City Council approved a policy limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and declaring the city to be "welcoming, safe and inclusive." Both policies were enacted amid heightened immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump's first term. Philipstown's revision comes as Trump expands deportations in his second term.
In January 2025, the state attorney general, Letitia James, issued guidance that noted federal law does not require a local government to communicate with immigration authorities, but that a federal statute says municipalities cannot prevent employees "from sending to, or receiving from" them information regarding someone's citizenship or immigration status. Nothing prevents governments from withholding other information, said James.
Federal officials say restrictions imposed by state and local governments, which they designate as "sanctuary" jurisdictions, hinder the capture and deportation of dangerous criminals.
Immigration arrests have more than quadrupled, and deportations have risen fivefold, during the first year of Trump's second term, according to a report this month from the Deportation Data Project, a team of academics and lawyers who obtain and analyze immigration data.
While the Trump administration says it is focused on criminals (entering the country without legal authorization is a civil offense), the arrests of people without criminal convictions increased eightfold, according to the report.
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