The New York attorney general’s office has asked town officials in upstate New York to explain their actions in responding to a residence where two suspected illegal immigrants hid on the roof to evade arrest by Border Patrol agents.
The office of Democrat Letitia James has requested information from local officials in the northern border town of Oswego, New York, to explain the roles that Oswego firefighters and local law enforcement took in the nearly six-hour standoff on Sept. 30, according to Syracuse.com.
The inquiry comes in the midst of a fight between local officials statewide and the governor’s office over the extent to which local police and officials can cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The incident made it on to the state’s radar after local residents reported it to Albany, though it is unclear if the two men had entered the United States illegally from Canada recently or were separately being pursued by federal immigration authorities.
The attorney general’s Office of Immigration Trust asked the Oswego police chief about firefighters who arrived at the house during the standoff and brought out and set up a ladder against the home at the request of Border Patrol agents, while local police stood between protesters who showed up and federal law enforcement agents.
Oswego Mayor Robert Corradino said in a statement to a local news outlet that the state asked for 911 calls, incident reports, and body camera footage. Corradino stated that “there’s no accusation … it was a fact-finding request.”
Local media reported that on Sept. 30, two men who had been working at a nearby home fled Border Patrol agents and climbed on the roof of a home at 261 E. Seventh St. The two stayed on the roof for almost six hours and in that time, word spread in the community, and roughly 70 people gathered down below to watch and protest.
The Border Patrol agent in charge of the operation reportedly asked local authorities for a ladder to access the roof. The firefighters carried a 30-foot ladder and leaned it up against the home, but the two men on the roof kicked it off. The firefighters left the scene without being able to assist the men down.
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“The fire department, when called upon, goes to help people,” Corradino said. “That was their only mission that day.”
Border Patrol agents left the scene around 7:30 p.m., at which point protesters helped the two men climb down from the roof without the help of firefighters.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
