Great Barrington — The town is looking into revising its Trust Policy, which was adopted by voters at the May 2017 Town Meeting, during President Donald J. Trump’s first term in office. The policy designates the town as “a safe and inclusive community” that will not enforce federal immigration law or “aid in the detention, transfer, transport or deportation of residents for civil immigration purposes.”
The policy was spearheaded by local organization Multicultural BRIDGE and drafted by the organization’s CEO, Gwendolyn VanSant, along with multiple partners throughout the community.
Nearly eight years later, a few months after President Trump started his second term of office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) boosted its enforcement actions throughout the country, including in Berkshire County, with at least three known incidents involving ICE agents on May 6, May 28, and May 30.
During Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations on Monday, January 20, Multicultural BRIDGE held a community conversation with residents to discuss revising the town’s Trust Policy. The meeting was attended by VanSant, Great Barrington Police Chief Adam Carlotto, State Rep. Leigh Davis (D – 3rd Berkshire District), and residents.
“The Trust Policy of 2017 was started in response to ICE and the ideas of sanctuary communities across the country,” VanSant told The Berkshire Edge in an interview before the meeting. “BRIDGE and our community partners all worked really hard to come up with a policy that was the right size for Great Barrington. In our rural community right now, with ICE and Trump’s legislation making people feel unsafe, we really feel like it’s the right time to revisit the Trust Policy.”
VanSant said the organization plans to put forward an amendment to the policy addressing multiple issues at the annual Town Meeting in May. “We want to address what we do when ICE comes to our community,” she explained. “What are the other threats out there to our safety besides ICE? How do we balance not obstructing justice while keeping our community safe? How do we partner with the Police Department for accountability, transparency, and mutual partnerships? Those are the main questions we need to answer for the new version of the Trust Policy because it needs to be updated, refined, and relevant to what is going on right now.”
“The Trust Policy was a citizen-initiated policy that helps to ensure that all residents living and working in our community are fully protected and supported by our police and town government,” resident Erica Mielke said at the beginning of the community meeting. “It is not a sanctuary policy. Our town is not designated a sanctuary community. But what we did do was work with the police chief at that time and town officials to come up with a policy that keeps everybody safe.”
At the meeting, State Rep. Davis recalled 2017, the year the Trust Policy was passed, as a “very turbulent time.” “There was a movement [across the country] to defund police departments,” she said. “But I recognized that the police departments were partners, and not our enemies. We really needed to reach against the tide and see how we can be stronger as a community.”
Davis said she met with Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, and other state officials before the January 20 community meeting. “They are all on our side, and they are pushing back,” Davis said. “I’m feeling very grateful that we have good partners. Sometimes we just need to be smarter and not necessarily louder. And I keep thinking about the Underground Railroad and how they came together and they made it happen. They helped the most vulnerable, and we got through that. We got through the Civil War. For me, I feel like this is kind of a version of that, of pulling together, going underground, in the sense that we want to make it work, but we don’t necessarily want to bring the wrath of the federal government down on this community.”
Police Chief Carlotto told residents at the meeting that the original Trust Policy helped to clarify the role of the Police Department in light of ICE’s enforcement policies and procedures. “Previously, there was [confusion] if [the department] was going to be part of these ICE raids and immigration [enforcement],” he said. “Because of the policy. The message got out there that the local police force does not do this. We are local law enforcement and community caretakers. The message [through the policy] came out very clear that we are not doing federal immigration enforcement.”
At the meeting, Ben Elliott, a member of the town’s Selectboard and creative director at The Triplex, spoke about his personal experience witnessing actions by ICE agents in May. “When ICE came, they were right in front of my office [at The Triplex],” he recalled. “The confusion on the ground was one of the worst feelings ever. I think about it today, not exactly knowing what the right thing to do was, and even for me as a town official, [I didn’t know] exactly where to turn to get information for the family. Unfortunately, I don’t think that this is going to be the last time you see ICE.”
Louise Feldman, vice president of local organization The People’s Pantry that operates its food pantry at Saint James Place, issued her concerns about ICE activities in town. “We have shoppers who come by twice a week, and a lot of them are part of a very vulnerable population that are outside our doors,” she said. “We always wonder if ICE is in the area. We want to know what will help to keep our people safe.”
Feldman asked Carlotto what ICE officials require from the town’s Police Department.
“If ICE is in town, they are still a federal law enforcement agency, and they’re still going to continue on with what they do,” Carlotto responded. “If we get a call, they’ll identify themselves as an ICE agent. They will give their name, telephone number, and they will tell us that they are in town today.” However, he said ICE agents do not tell the Police Department where they will be in town or the focus of their investigation.
Carlotto advocated that the new Trust Policy include a provision concerning communications with ICE and the Police Department.
“I remember having a conversation with [previous Police Chief] Paul Storti about this,” Davis added. “He said that, in many ways, the Police Department’s hands were tied because of the Trust Policy, and they weren’t able to communicate with ICE. He felt that it was restrictive.”
The current Trust Policy, as passed at Town Meeting in May 2017, can be found here.
