For six weeks, Mahoning Township Police Chief Frederick Dyroff III described the September 2 traffic stops in Danville, Pennsylvania, as routine policing. Emails obtained through public records requests by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star tell a different story: a day before the operation, an ICE employee sent Dyroff a plan with locations and police assignments, plus an attachment called “targets.docx” that appeared to list about 13 people.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
The workers were stopped as they left a construction site on the Geisinger Medical Center campus in Danville, Montour County. The records show at least 11 federal agents worked with officers from five local departments — Mahoning Township, Danville Borough, Riverside Borough, Hemlock Township and Montour Township. Eleven officers were to ride along with police conducting traffic stops, guided by a drone operator who tracked workers' vehicles as they left the parking lot, and four officers were assigned to transport people taken into custody.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
What is solid
- ICE emailed Dyroff the plan and a 'targets.docx' attachment the day before the Sept. 2 operation, according to records obtained by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
- At least 11 federal agents and officers from five local departments took part, and a drone operator tracked workers' vehicles.
- All five departments are in ICE's 287(g) programme, which lets trained local officers carry out some immigration duties under ICE direction.
What is only claimed
- How many people were detained is still disputed: ICE said it arrested 10 people in Danville, while immigrant advocates citing witnesses say about 40 or more were detained.
Asked how the emails squared with his earlier statements, Dyroff told the Capital-Star he was retracting his previous statement. “It was an operation, and they were looking for certain targets, and we assisted in stopping those targets if they were violating the law,” he said. Danville Borough Chief Greg Watson and Riverside Chief Kerry Parkes told the Capital-Star they were asked to assist by Dyroff, not by ICE, and Watson said his understanding was that his officers were only doing vehicle stops.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
All five departments belong to ICE's 287(g) programme. The Daily Item reported that Mahoning Township police received $160,000 and Danville police $167,500 under their agreements, as reported by the Capital-Star. Incident reports from Danville Borough police show several people fled after stops, leading to at least one foot chase and a use-of-force report.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
The operation had already raised fears beyond Danville. WESA reported in September that advocates warned immigration enforcement near a hospital could deter people from seeking care, while ICE, local chiefs and Geisinger stressed that no arrests took place on the medical center campus itself. ICE declined to discuss its tactics, telling the Capital-Star it would not disclose law-enforcement operations, strategy or tactics.
Source: WESA