Legislature votes to accept new Operation Stonegarden grant

To boos from a packed gallery, the Monroe County Legislature voted last week to accept Department of Homeland Security funding for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies in Rochester’s suburbs.

The funding is part of Operation Stonegarden, a grant program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that provides funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to “support joint efforts to secure United States’ borders.” FEMA is an operational component of DHS.

Funding from the Operation Stonegarden grant is used to pay for additional personnel, travel and lodging, overtime pay, and general equipment used in operations by grant recipients to improve overall border security.

The Legislature voted 17-12 to accept the $160,000 grant, with all 11 Republican legislators joined by six of 18 Democratic lawmakers: John Baynes, David Long, Howard Maffucci, Lystra Bartholomew McCoy, Michael Yudelson, as well as Legislature President Yversha Roman.

Leading the Democratic opposition to the grant funding was Legislator Rachel Barnhart, an outspoken critic of the Trump administration and its immigration policies, as well as the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

“It is not worth selling our souls for $160,000—a tiny fraction of the sheriff’s budget—for an ATV, a license plate reader, a speed thing, and a lot of overtime,” said Barnhart in a statement read during discussion prior to the vote. 

She added: “Our sheriff appeared at a rally back in April protesting the governor’s protections for immigrants and yet there are people here saying they trust him. Why would we trust Sheriff Baxter, who’s never even appeared in this chamber to take our questions on this issue?”

Earlier this year, Baxter earned the ire of some local progressives for appearing at a New York sheriff’s association press conference to criticize Gov. Kathy Hochul’s policies to protect immigrants from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Critics of Baxter, a registered Democrat, describe the sheriff as a “Democrat in name only,” noting that he was a Republican before his unopposed election in 2018. 

The sheriff’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the Stonegarden vote or Barnhart’s criticism. In the past, the office has maintained that the grant helps “achieve objectives such as securing our international border from terroristic threats, dangerous weapons and materials, as well as criminal threats and smuggling operations.”

“The grant agreement specifically states that funding is not to be used for immigration enforcement, and in no way requires the sheriff to otherwise participate in any immigration enforcement operations,” a spokesperson told the Beacon in March.

Though the county has renewed acceptance of the grant for 16 years, this year’s vote was the subject of special attention from local activists and organizers against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“The fact that we’ve been approving this funding for over a decade means nothing except the willingness of this body to be complicit (with immigration enforcement) in the past,” said Kevin Stewart, a progressive candidate who ran for City Council last year, in a statement read during public comment on the vote. “Federal forces are abducting our neighbors, terrorizing our most trusted community centers, and executing people in the street. A vote approving this contract makes us a part of this machine when we should be using every tool at our disposal to resist it.”

Some public commenters argued that accepting the grant funding would obligate the sheriff’s office to work with Customs and Border Protection on immigration enforcement and/or allow recipients to conduct immigration enforcement arrests, a contention that Republican lawmaker Sean McCabe describes as misinformation.

“(Local law enforcement) still can’t interact with ICE by state law,” McCabe says. “The correlation there totally blows me away. I think we’re trying to create something that’s not there, and it hasn’t been there, and nobody’s really working with ICE. Nobody’s working with (CBP) in our area.

Adds McCabe: “The misinformation around Stonegarden by some of my colleagues on the other side is actually horrific.”

Unlike the city of Rochester, Monroe County does not have a sanctuary policy. However, under the recently passed Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, law enforcement agencies in New York are no longer allowed to participate in DHS’ 287(g) program through which local law enforcement are delegated authority to conduct immigration enforcement activities.

Agencies in the state are also forbidden from arresting individuals on civil ICE warrants, sharing personal information with ICE without a judicial warrant, or questioning individuals solely to determine immigration status.

“The agreement clearly spells out that local agencies are not empowered to enforce Title 8 Immigration law, nor are we granted any additional authorities or powers under that title,” reads a fact sheet released by the sheriff’s office last month. “This agreement does not grant us federal law enforcement powers and does not require us to inquire about immigration status, or notify federal agencies of individuals with whom we have come into contact with.”

Others have criticized the grant funding for allocating resources to surveillance equipment such as automatic license plate readers and cameras, as well as Stonegarden’s potential impact on the relationship between Monroe County’s immigrant community and local law enforcement. 

In his statement prior to voting against accepting the funding, Democratic lawmaker Marvin Stepherson, a former law enforcement officer, called on the sheriff’s office to be more transparent about how the Operation Stonegarden grant funds are being used. 

“This Legislature must see measurable outcomes in order to be able to say ‘yes’ to this particular vote,” Stepherson said. “And I don’t think in the last 15 years there’s been any data or statistics turned over to the legislative body to show what the operation has done for the last 15 years. … The county needs clear and verifiable reporting.”

In a statement shared on social media, Roman, who voted to approve the grant, said: “Given the actions of agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, I recognize the very real and understandable concerns surrounding any program associated with this department. That reality is not lost on me. These federal dollars are administered through New York State and have specific requirements governing their use. … Operation Stonegarden does not empower our local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration laws. Claims to the contrary are false and, in my opinion, irresponsible.” 

Roman concluded her statement with a warning to Monroe County’s local law enforcement agencies.

“Let me also be clear about accountability: if I become aware that this grant, its resources, or our local law enforcement personnel are being used in violation of state law, I will be the first to contact the New York State Attorney General. That standard of accountability extends beyond Operation Stonegarden. Our departments must be accountable regardless of where their funding comes from.”

David Wazana is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort. 

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