Residents urge Franklin County to limit sheriff cooperation with ICE after recent raids

Several residents used the public-comment period at the Franklin County Board of Commissioners meeting to urge county leaders to restrict cooperation between the sheriff’s office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Valerie Jordan of Fayetteville said she does not want detention centers or paramilitary-style enforcement in Franklin County and urged the commissioners to seek ordinances or petitions to limit ICE operations. “I don’t want to see that happen here in Franklin County,” she said, adding that local officials should follow examples taken by other governors and municipalities.

Herb Dalloway, a Chambersburg resident and long-standing taxpayer, asked the commissioners to “undo the relationship the sheriff’s department has with ICE,” citing emotional trauma and fear among immigrant families. Dalloway described classroom and neighborhood impacts, saying children and residents are afraid to leave their homes because of enforcement activity.

John Jordan of Fayetteville praised improvements at the voter-registration office while several speakers asked the sheriff to publicly disclose how many people have been taken into custody by ICE under any memoranda of agreement with county jails.

The commissioners did not take formal action during the public-comment period; multiple speakers asked staff and elected officials — including the sheriff and municipal chiefs — to consider resolutions, ordinances, or petitions and to provide public records about local ICE activity.