Voters Ousted This Pennsylvania Sheriff (R) After He Signed Up to Collaborate With ICE [View all]

Angela Staffareni, an organizer and immigrant advocate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, became a citizen in October and promptly registered to vote for the first time. She awoke Wednesday “full of hope and happiness” because Sheriff Fred Harran, a Republican who has closely partnered with ICE, had been defeated, thanks in part to her vote.

“We finally have a little change,” Staffareni told Bolts. “I know ICE will still be here, but at least in our community we get some sense of peace. People haven’t wanted to go church, to concerts, to public events, because everybody is thinking they’re going to be taken.”

Many in this county were outraged when Harran in April signed an agreement to assist federal immigration authorities through ICE’s 287(g) program. Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, is home to some 650,000 people, roughly 1 in 9 of whom were born outside the United States.

Since Donald Trump’s return to office, local and state agencies across the country have rushed in huge numbers to aid his deportation campaign by joining 287(g), which authorizes local law enforcement officers to act as federal immigration agents. The agreement in Bucks County granted Harran’s deputies the power to question the immigration status of people they encounter and to serve and execute arrest warrants on ICE’s behalf.



https://boltsmag.org/sheriff-of-bucks-county-pennsylvania-ousted-in-2025/