Mountville human rights lawyer released from custody; hundreds protest local ICE cooperation
Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify that Wu was not driving a truck at the time of his arrest.
Around 400 people crowded the steps of the Lancaster County Courthouse on Saturday to protest against the detention of a Mountville resident and local law enforcement’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Protest organizers with Solidarity Lancaster said the rally was a renewed call to end 287(g) agreements, which establish partnerships between ICE and local law enforcement agencies, following the detention of Wu Shaoping, a human rights lawyer who fled China for the U.S. in 2019.
Speaker and Lancaster city resident Matthew Kabik said he appreciated Lancaster County for its welcoming culture and history as a safe haven for refugees. Kabik characterized the local law enforcement partnerships as contradictory to that culture.
“287(g) is fundamentally against this way of thinking. It puts arbitrary markers on who is a member of the community and who is not,” Kabik said. “As evidence time and time again it leads to pointless suffering and tragic death.”
Release from ICE facility
Wu was released Friday evening from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, an Immigration Customs and Enforcement facility in Clearfield County, according to Shi Minglei, a friend of Wu.
Cheers broke out at the rally as organizer Michelle Hines announced that Wu had been released. However, Hines cautioned that Wu’s immigration case is still ongoing. Wu is scheduled to appear at a hearing before an immigration judge on Monday, Shi told LNP | LancasterOnline.
Court records indicate Mount Holly Springs Borough Police in Cumberland County stopped Wu on July 15 and said he failed to stop at a stop sign.
Wu told police during the stop that he had correctly stopped, Shi said. Wu was working as an Amazon delivery driver at the time of his arrest, according to Wu’s family.
The Mount Holly Springs Borough Police Department joined ICE’s task force model program in February. The program conveys federal immigration enforcement powers to local police agencies, including the ability to question and arrest people based on their immigration status.
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The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, Northwest Regional Police, Susquehanna Regional Police, Manheim Borough Police and a constable based in East Donegal Township, Paul Castline, have all signed on to 287(g) task force model agreements with ICE, according to previous LNP | LancasterOnline reporting.
State Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El called for municipalities to follow the example of Quarryville Borough, which ended their agreement with ICE in February.
“As an agent of law enforcement is your identity the same as ICE or something different?” Smith-Wade-El said addressing Lancaster County police. “If you are willing to make yourself subordinate to ICE then you cannot make a distinction between yourself and this cruel and overwhelming behavior.”
In March, the Mount Joy Borough Council voted to direct the borough police chief to seek a modification to its ICE agreement. Mount Joy Borough had previously approved an agreement allowing borough police officers to serve warrants; however, the council voted to clarify that borough police would not make any immigration-related arrests without a warrant signed by a judge.
Greg Hand, a resident of Manheim Township and retired attorney, went to the rally after learning about Wu’s detainment. Hand said he was horrified by the circumstances around Wu’s arrest.
“He’d done everything right,” Hand said. “He’s the sort of person we used to welcome and hold up as what this country is all about. To throw him in detention, it’s just wrong.”
Staff Writer Tom Lisi contributed to this story.
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