To the Editor:

Mark Grimm expressed his opposition to Resolution 55 that was passed by the Albany County Legislature and implied it would make us less safe. [Letter to the Editor: “Cooperation beats prohibition when it comes to making you safer,” The Altamont Enterprise, March 12, 2026.)

He writes, “A stronger focus on capturing the most violent criminals is needed.”

Does Mr. Grimm have any evidence that state and local law-enforcement agencies are not doing an adequate job of catching violent criminals?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not displayed any such focus. Rather than taking the time to track down violent criminals and get warrants to arrest them, ICE agents have rounded up people engaged in such non-criminal activities as taking their children to school or daycare, waiting in Home Depot parking lots where day laborers are often hired, or working at their jobs. These are not activities that attract large numbers of criminals.

Fewer than half of the people deported by ICE have any criminal records and a very small percentage of them were convicted of violent crimes. In their zeal to meet deportation quotas, ICE agents have deported some American citizens as well as some holders of green cards who came here legally and followed all the required procedures. Some citizens have spent days or weeks in ICE detention.

In Minnesota, volunteers stand outside the ICE detention center around the clock to help people ICE released after ICE found they were citizens or legal immigrants. ICE releases people at any hour of the day or night without adequate clothing for the freezing temperatures and with no way to contact family or get home.

ICE doesn’t even allow them to make a phone call before release. The volunteers give them hot drinks, food, clothing, use of a phone, and a ride home if they need it. Any responsible agency would see to it that people they had detained got home safely.

The introduction to Resolution 55 states, “Many ICE and Border Patrol agents in ‘Operation Metro Surge’ (In Minneapolis) have displayed poor training, incompetence, lack of composure and professionalism, incivility to members of the community, and have unjustifiably used violence, including deadly force.”  The Resolution goes on to say, “The Albany County Legislature supports proper, professional, and competent enforcement of all laws.”

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said the resolution, “does not hinder our ability to do our jobs or compromise the safety of my deputies. We are well trained, we follow the law …. with professionalism and care. Tactics rooted in violence erode trust in law enforcement, and that is not who we are or what we stand for …. We serve our neighbors as people first and law-enforcement officers second.”

Edna Litten

Altamont