After what some in attendance called a “waste of time,” the Plymouth Select Board has unanimously voted to adopt a policy mirroring the police department’s that prohibits officers from enforcing immigration detainers.

The decision followed a highly anticipated Select Board meeting to hold a vote on a sanctuary policy proposal brought by Selectman Kevin Canty, called “A Policy Designed to Protect Public Trust in All Town Employees for All Residents.” It would have prohibited local police, town officials and employees from cooperating or communicating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other federal immigration agents.

Instead, Canty led the select board and dozens of town residents through hours of debate, discussion and presentations of his proposal and the Plymouth Police Department’s current ICE policy, implemented in 2017 and something only Police Chief Dana Flynn has the authority to change. The department’s policy is based off a 2017 state law prohibiting Massachusetts police officers from enforcing civil immigration detainers.

“I don’t think this has been a waste of time, personally. I think it’s been valuable to hear from the department and what you’re doing, why you’re doing and what your priorities are,” Canty said to Chief Flynn towards the end of the meeting. “And I think that we’ve heard a lot of public consternation and fear about it, as we talked about, and I think it’s worthwhile to talk about it.”

Canty’s policy would have banned all Plymouth police officers, town officials and employees from cooperating with ICE or any federal immigration agents, communicating with immigration officers about the legal status of individuals, or performing the functions of an immigration officer.

“The manner and means which federal immigration enforcement has chosen to conduct themselves in our community has left residents fearful and scared,” Canty said at the meeting, adding that his policy is meant to keep the priorities of local police and town employees on Plymouth, not immigration enforcement.

But Chief Flynn maintained throughout the meeting that his department’s policy would not change or be influenced by any Select Board policy, adding that while much of Canty’s proposal is similar to the department’s, that some provisions would still present conflict. The chief explained that the department’s relationship with ICE, which includes cooperation on non-immigration related investigations, could be negatively affected if the department adopted the proposed policy.

“Mr. Canty, thank you very much for wasting our time tonight. We’re here tonight because of Kevin Canty’s personal agenda to fight the federal government’s agenda,” said Plymouth resident Tim Lawler, who spoke in opposition to Canty’s proposal, going on to say the board should be focused on more important issues like the town budget.

Chair of the Plymouth Republican Town Committee Hunter Young also criticized Canty for what he also views as wasted time, accusing him of virtue signaling.

“We spent two and a half hours, people were walking out with no public comment, with the selectmen debating back and forth, to come to the conclusion that the policy that the police chief already has was sufficient and covered all of the points Mr. Canty wanted to have. With that said, I wanted to bring up something called virtue ‘signaling,’” Young said. “I think that if Mr. Canty genuinely wanted to fix the policy he could have gone to the police chief before [Tuesday’s meeting], he could have gone and had these conversations with people before proposing his own policy.”

But resident Jason Platt, while wearing a shirt with giant letters reading “F*** ICE,” spoke in favor of Canty’s proposal, arguing that a town policy mirroring the police department’s can only strengthen the town’s defense against ICE.

“We can’t have officer judgement being the decision-making power for when people get arrested or detained,” said Platt. “There is nothing wrong with having a codified law or policy that the tow abides by that compliments the police department.

“I have never seen this level of fear in our community. Whether you are documented, undocumented or a U.S. citizen, the fear feels the same. If you are black or brown or speak with an accent, you feel like a target. Parents are afraid to send their kids to school, people are afraid to go to work, church, and even the grocery store,” said Kristen Thomas, who also voiced her support for the proposal.

As part of its vote, the Select Board also moved to review the policy annually and task Chief Flynn with notifying the board of any changes to the ICE policy that are made.

“I think it’s now ten o’clock at night, we started at six,” said Selectman William Keohan. “Some might have said this was a waste of time, that we ventured somewhere we shouldn’t have gone. We are the body politic. I support the motion and I support how we got there.”

Plymouth is the seat of Plymouth County, which is home to the sheriff’s office with the only remaining 287(g) agreement with ICE in the entire state. Under this contract, state and county staff are deputized to act as immigration agents.