Two city leaders likely to vote in favor of ICE deal on immigrants

At least two city officials appear to be ready to vote Friday morning to continue sharing arrest information with federal immigration authorities - an agreement recently opposed by Mayor Nutter and reviled by immigrant advocates.

District Attorney Seth Williams appears ready to vote in favor of continuing the arrangement, given his public statements. The other parties to the agreement are Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey and Municipal Court President Judge Marsha H. Neifield.

Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety, confirmed late Thursday that Ramsey would vote in favor of the agreement.

"The objections the mayor had are going to be handled by a technological fix," Gillison said. The city Division of Technology, which maintains the system, is working on the change, he said.

"I've been assured that within a two- to three-week period - before the agreement expires - that the fix will be in, and we will be able to control the information."

Williams and Ramsey declined to comment Thursday, and Neifield did not return a call seeking comment.

The new agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to address Nutter's main objection - that ICE had access to data regarding not only offenders but also victims and witnesses.

That information is available in the database known as the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System. ICE has had access to PARS since 2008.

The one-year arrangement would restrict ICE to offender information only, sources said.

PARS lists a person's country of origin, and immigrants feared there were not enough safeguards to protect victims and witnesses from potential deportation.

Nutter has said allowing ICE to have data on victims and witnesses would discourage immigrants from cooperating with police.

"That is not an arrangement that I am willing to tolerate," he said in a letter to Councilman Frank Rizzo, dated Thursday.

Last month, Gillison told a church meeting of immigrants and their supporters that the city expected to end the agreement with ICE, drawing chants of "Si, se puede" ("Yes, we can").

Although law enforcement officials say ICE uses the information to deport only serious offenders, advocates say some immigrants have faced deportation after even minor arrests.

The current agreement with ICE expires Aug. 31.

In a recent chat on his Facebook page, the district attorney was urged to stand with the mayor in opposition to sharing information with ICE.

Williams responded that "if you are here illegally and get arrested . . . my job is to enforce the laws, not circumvent them.

"I want to do all that I can to protect victims and witnesses," he wrote. "However, when it comes to defendants that are here illegally, I have less sensitivity. I have sworn to uphold the law."