Lansford Borough Council discussed a program that would allow its police officers to partner with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But more information is needed before committing to the ICE 287 program, officials said.

The program, which council had on its workshop agenda Tuesday, allows borough police to identify and process “removable aliens with pending or criminal charges.”

Councilman Bruce Markovich thought the borough needs to look at all that’s involved in the program and hear what Carbon County District Attorney Michael Greek has to say about it.

“The only other department in the entire county that’s involved with this is Weatherly,” Markovich said. “We haven’t heard anything from the DA, whether he’s in favor of this, whether this is a good program or not.

“My number one concern is if we pick somebody up and there’s a detainer on them, that we get stuck having to babysit them for hours downstairs until ICE gets here to pick them up.”

The Schuylkill County’s district attorney has come out in support of the program, Markovich said, but they need more information right now.

Resident Erin Soberick said that the borough police force doesn’t have the manpower to “do the basics here,” and questioned how they could take this on, too.

Markovich also noted that the borough would need a policy for its police department addressing the program, he said.

“There’s a lot more involved in this than just a yes-or-no vote on this thing next week,” Markovich said.

Resident Tommy Vadyak said that he’s been following what Schuylkill County is doing with the program, and it’s basically allowing police to work with ICE.

“They’re cooperating with them,” Vadyak said. “I’m totally in favor of that, because if they’re in the borough illegally, they should be rounded up.”

Markovich cautioned Vadyak, because the borough would have to deal with holding the detainees.

“It’s like catching a rat, Tommy. It’s nice to catch a rat, but what do you do with them after you catch them?” Markovich said.

Weatherly Borough did move ahead with the program because other communities such as Hazleton and Tamaqua already signed up and didn’t want to become “a sanctuary city for illegals,” its mayor said in May.

Weatherly officials also had concerns about transportation of those people their officers picked up under the program because the closest facility that accepted them was in Pike County.

Weatherly’s police chief addressed staffing concerns caused by the time lost driving detainees, saying that he would offer the extra time on the federal dime to an off-duty officer, so no coverage was lost in the borough.

Chief Michael Bogart also pointed out that the program offers incentives for participation, specifically more funding and/or equipment to help small departments. Benton in Columbia County had received $100,000 plus $1,500 an officer, he said.

Mayor Denise Leibensperger, who was not at this week’s meeting, said that she just began to review the program and didn’t expect council to take up the subject so soon.

Leibensperger said that she doesn’t have the answers on the ICE program yet either so would like to focus on something like the Flock camera system for the borough right now.

“This system is designed to assist officers during criminal investigations by capturing license plate information and vehicle characteristics,” she said on social media this week. “Criminals don’t stop at borough lines.

“When neighboring law enforcement agencies use the same technology, investigators can work together more efficiently when investigating crimes that involve vehicles.”

A presentation on the Flock system is planned for council’s Aug. 4 workshop, she said.