'We're not criminals': Bethlehem residents, council continue to volley pro-immigrant ‘welcoming’ city ordinance

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Police Chief Michelle Kott on Tuesday told City Council she's not aware of any cases of recent local activity by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But Kott told council she and her staff will continue treating all city residents with dignity and respect, regardless of immigration status, and stay “laser-focused on trying to provide the best quality public safety services to our community.”

“Do not get me wrong — we will follow federal, state and local law,” Kott said. “But at the same time, we’re doing business the Bethlehem way, and I’m very, very proud of that.

“I’m very proud of our officers, and I’m proud of the contacts that we have in the community — the dialogues that we’ve been having back and forth.

"They’re hard conversations but they’re necessary conversations, and we’re going to continue to have them."

Kott said the department doesn't take part in ICE's 287(g) program, which delegates immigration enforcement from the federal to the local level.

Bethlehem Police has written directives in prohibiting bias-based profiling.

Kott also said typical traffic stops don’t begin with officers inquiring about a person’s immigration status, and staff aren’t voluntarily sending information to federal agencies regarding the potential location of any illegal immigrants.

She and Mayor J. William Reynolds released a statement on Monday, urging officials to avoid passing a “welcoming” city ordinance since Bethlehem already has pro-immigrant measures in place.

No such ordinance has been proposed.

Council President Michael Colón and Mayor Reynolds were absent from Tuesday's meeting.

'Rapidly changing environment'

The discussion came amid a recent federal immigration crackdown called for by the new presidential administration.

Bethlehem residents have asked the city to pass a broader pro-immigration policy that would restrict city staff cooperation with federal authorities on immigration cases without a proper warrant.

Allentown recently codified its similar, respective ordinance, and Easton may consider one of its own.

“We’re in a very rapidly changing environment right now with the [presidential] administration and what’s coming," Bethlehem city solicitor John Spirk Jr. said.

"So we’re not immune from those circumstances and we’ll continue to monitor those.

“I would add that’s true of a police officer in the street, too; they’re not immune from the circumstances, either.

“So it’s very difficult to legislate absolutes in terms of police behavior, because they’re not immune from circumstances and it’s hard to legislate, predict everything that could possibly develop.”

'Red tape and a lot of barriers'

During Tuesday's 3 1/2-hour meeting, more than a dozen people spoke in favor of the legislation, while a few argued against it.

No one on either side argued that someone, here legally or not, who commits a violent crime should be free to roam the streets.

Some said immigration and crime have been wrongly correlated.

“I agree that we need to reject the false stereotype of immigrants — whether they’re documented or undocumented — as being, in some way, more criminal than people who happen to be, by good luck, born here or become naturalized citizens,” Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek said.

Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith, a retired school counselor, said she’s seen the process to become a citizen firsthand alongside some of her students over the years.

The journey comes with “a lot of red tape and a lot of barriers,” and some of the families were in situations where they had to give up everything to come to the United States, she said.

'We're not criminals'

Bishop Pikinini — who hails from Botswana, Southern Africa, but for the past six years has lived, gone to school and worked in Bethlehem — said “criminality is not an element of immigration.”

“I don’t think anyone came here and ordered or argued that the city of Bethlehem welcome criminals — unless, of course, you think the word ‘criminal’ represents the word ‘immigrant,’” Pikinini said.

“Trying to make it synonymous with this group of people who are actually very vulnerable and actually need more law protection rather than less — I think it’s something we should avoid.

"And it’s a very dangerous thing to do, because we’re not criminals.”

Referencing the case behind the signing of the Laken Riley Act — which involved an undocumented Venezuelan individual murdering a Georgia nursing student — West Bethlehem resident Mary Jo Makoul said dangerous criminals need to be deported.

“I want these criminals out of my city; I want to feel safe in my neighborhood,” Makoul said. “At this point, my feelings of safety are decreasing.”

'A danger to our society'

Resident Harry Faber said the reasoning behind the official statement from the mayor and chief was “flimsy at best.”

“It is imperative that we do everything in our power to prevent and resist the forced removal and ethnic cleansing of our own population,” Faber said.

“When we allow agencies like ICE to operate without accountability, we normalize the abuse of power. We send a message that it is acceptable to treat people as less than human.

“This is not a world we want to live in, and this is not a world we want to pass on to future generations.

“I’ve said many times that it starts here at the local level, with the individual. Local governments have the utmost responsibility to stand up to this abuse.”

Resident Mike O’Hare said he was glad to see the recent news of Easton’s mayor and police chief speaking out against a respective welcoming city ordinance, as Bethlehem “is a welcoming city already.”

“I would imagine if you polled the 78,000 people in the city, probably the opinion would be a lot different than what we’ve heard here tonight,” O’Hare said.

“Most people love immigrants; they want to see legal immigration — but they want criminal, illegal immigrants taken out of the country.

“It’s a danger to our community. It’s a danger to our society.

“If I were to break into your house, raid your refrigerator, sit down in your living room, you’d call the police because I’m violating your personal rights. And it’s no different with this.”

Bethlehem is home to about 78,000 residents.

About 30% of them identify as Latino/Hispanic and 11% were born in a different country. A quarter say they speak a language other than English at home.

The next City Council meeting is set for 7 p.m. March 4 at Bethlehem Town Hall, 10 E. Church St.