Officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are seen waiting outside at Laurelwood apartment complex around 11:40 a.m. Sunday in Cranberry Township. Submitted Photo

If immigration officials are operating in Butler County, local law enforcement says they’re not working with them.

County law enforcement officials said Tuesday they aren’t aware of any U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the area despite witness reports.

A witness, who declined to be named out of fear of retaliation, said they saw immigration officials waiting outside an entrance to an apartment in the Laurelwood complex around 11:40 a.m. Sunday in Cranberry Township.

According to the witness, the officers — wearing vests labeled “ERO” and “special agent” — reportedly waited for about 15 minutes before taking photographs of various cars and license plates then leaving in an unmarked vehicle.

ERO stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations and is a part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has a Pittsburgh office. The Eagle’s attempts to reach the office Tuesday were unsuccessful.

A spokesperson from the apartment complex declined to comment on the sighting. Cranberry Township officials and police — and Northern Regional police, which covers nearby Seven Fields — also could not confirm ICE activities in the area.

Others on social media alleged immigration officials were at Emiliano’s in Cranberry Township on Saturday morning, but a manager at the restaurant said no immigration officials were there. Employees of nearby businesses could not confirm the sightings.

“Our staff was busy providing customer service and were not looking out the windows,” said Shawn Kelly, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, who spoke on behalf of the Fine Wine & Good Spirits location next door.

Kelly added the Fine Wine & Good Spirits location in Cranberry Township is one of the busiest in the state.

Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said ICE officials are not required to inform local law enforcement about operations in the area, but law enforcement will cooperate if notified. He said undocumented individuals are still entitled to due process if detained by ICE.

“You can’t just find an illegal immigrant and throw them in jail if they’re here illegally,” he said.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger said Tuesday he hadn’t heard of immigration officials working in the county and didn’t know of any local or federal inmates lodged in the Butler County Prison being picked up by ICE.

Slupe said if officers arrest someone discovered to be in the country illegally, they would be arraigned and held in the Butler County Prison under local charges.

Goldinger said ICE would likely take the individuals in the country illegally to a separate location before deportation. He said any local charges filed would be dropped, unless it is a high-profile crime, since the individual would not be available to stand trial.

Warden Beau Sneddon said he has not seen any inmates from ICE come into the Butler County Prison lately.