INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun 16 Pages – Free
Vol. 141, No. 17
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2025 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Arts
Science
Weather
Lunar Lions
Outstanding Oscars
Media Misinformation
Cloudy
The Spring Festival Gala offered community members a place to celebrate the Lunar New Year together. | Page 10
Jane Locke ’28 explores the Genre Gap in the Oscar nomination process and the validity of the Academy. | Page 15
Prof. Pennycook researches how to prevent people from being susceptible to social media misinformation. | Page 8
HIGH: 23º LOW: 15º
Justice Department Investigates County Sheriff
DOJ alleges the sheriff failed to honor a federal warrant by releasing an undocumented immigrant By CEREESE QUSBA Sun Staff Writer
Feb. 2 — The U.S. Justice Department called for an investigation of Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne on Thursday for allegedly not honoring a federal warrant after he released an undocumented immigrant from custody. On Jan. 8, 2024, Jesus RomeroHernandez was charged in a federal criminal complaint in the Tompkins County Jail on third-degree assault charges when a federal arrest warrant was issued for illegally re-entering the United States after a prior removal. According to a Thursday
press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Osborne “refused to honor the federal arrest warrant and released [him] before [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement- Enforcement and Removal Operations] arrived to pick him up” on Tuesday. According to Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove III, RomeroHernandez was released before ICE agents could pick him up from jail, and the U.S. attorney for the northern district of New York will investigate whether the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office acted within the law. According to the DOJ press release,
COURTESY OF DOMINICK RECCKIO/TOMPKINS COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Immigration investigation | Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne is under federal investigation and faces potential prosecution after releasing an undocumented immigrant.
Romero-Hernandez was apprehended by agents with ICE-ERO, assisted by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 30, two days after his release by Osborne. The press release also stated that the charges in the complaint pending against RomeroHernandez are “merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.” Bove said in a statement to The New York Times that the situation endangered law enforcement, writing, “Federal agents risked their safety and pursued the defendant in unsafe conditions.” In a statement to the Ithaca Times, Sheriff Osborne said, “We do not work with [ICE] in any capacity. I can’t think of a time we have even had an interaction with ICE.” The Ithaca Common Council voted to become a sanctuary city in 2017, limiting the Ithaca Police Department’s cooperation with ICE. Now, the city is subject to the Trump administration’s crackdown on sanctuary cities. The administration has enacted a Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group, which threatens to bring civil lawsuits against jurisdictions that do not comply with immigration enforcement. According to existing case law, state and local governments are not obligated to enforce federal immigration laws under the Tenth Amendment. This legal foundation allows sanctuary cities like Ithaca to refuse cooperation with ICE without violating federal law.
The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office’s policies on immigration — which outlines rules for responding to requests from federal immigration officials, enforcement actions and community interactions — states that there is no obligation to hold individuals for ICE without a judicial warrant. G.O. 719 states that “Absent a lawfully issued judicial warrant, Sheriff’s Office personnel shall not provide ICE or [Customs and Border Protection] with access to an individual in their custody or the use of office facilities to question or interview such individuals if ICE or CBP’s sole purpose is enforcement of federal immigration law.” Alderperson Patrick Kuehl ’24 (D-Fourth Ward) told The Sun he expressed strong opposition to the federal government’s crackdown on sanctuary cities. “I personally think that the Trump administration’s witch hunt for illegal immigrants is immoral and xenophobic,” Kuehl said. “Of course, we need to uphold our local, state and federal laws but that doesn’t mean striking fear into the hearts of our communities across the country.” According to Kuehl, Ithaca will be reaffirming its sanctuary city status with a full vote of the Common Council this upcoming Wednesday. “I am committed as an elected official to do whatever I can to support and protect our community,” Kuehl said. Cereese Qusba can be reached at cq78@cornell.edu.
Angela Davis Discusses Freedom, Protests
‘History never stops unfolding,’ the academic and activist told a sold-out Bailey Hall crowd on Monday By EVELYN MULLEN WALSH Sun Contributor
Feb. 4 — Activist and educator Angela Davis led the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture on Monday night — a lecture series honoring his legacy — in which she focused on relevant issues, including racism, persecution and fascism. “Our world is always changing; history never stops unfolding,” Davis said. The Bailey Hall event was a collaboration led by the Office of Spirituality and Meaning-Making, Black Student Empowerment, the Gender Justice Advocacy Coalition and several other Cornell and local organizations. Davis’ lecture, titled “The Struggle for Liberation Today,” was sold out, with a live-stream option available and a significant standby line. Davis is known for her membership in the Black Panther Party and Communist Party. Davis came out as a lesbian in 1997 and has spotlighted the intersectionality between race, gender and class in her activism. She founded Critical Resistance, a non-profit that aims to end the prison industrial complex by closing California prisons and offering education opportunities. Davis is currently a distinguished professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the feminist studies and history of consciousness departments. The event opened with an acapella rendition of the tradi-
tional spiritual hymn “Ride On, King Jesus.” The audience stood as the singers performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black National Anthem initially written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson, leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Sharifa Wip, associate dean of students and director of Black Student Empowerment and the co-chair of the lecture, welcomed audience members. “We gather here tonight in the spirit of liberation, in the pursuit of justice and in celebration of Black History Month,” Wip said. As she began her lecture, Davis referenced the current political climate, including the election of President Donald Trump, the conflict between
Israel and Palestine and the renewed need to stand up for social justice issues in the United States. Davis emphasized that the struggle for freedom is a “collective practice” and the importance of women — especially Black women — and queer people in the fight for freedom. “It’s about recognizing the power, the power that we can generate,” Davis said. Davis spoke extensively about her work as a Palestinian solidarity activist. In response, the audience broke out in cheers of “Free, free Palestine,” which Davis encouraged and joined. She referred back to her time as a student at Brandeis University, where her Palestinian activism started. She congratulated Cornell activists for their continued critique of “the anti-democratic forces of the State of Israel,” despite the “banishing” of protestors. Regarding Trump’s victory in the election, Davis said, “We will not be complicit in the kind of fascist program he’s trying to place [in the United States].”
STEPHAN MENASCHE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com. Evelyn Mullen Walsh can be reached at eam435@cornell.edu.