South City passed a resolution expressing concern over recent immigration enforcement actions throughout the country and clarifying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot use or access city-owned property without proper authorization.
The discussion and subsequent resolution comes after the City Council previously condemned recent ICE actions, “including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the human rights violations and actions perpetuated by ICE in Minneapolis and communities throughout the country,” according to a staff report.
A new resolution emphasizes that federal immigration agents are subject to the city’s current policies, which prohibit them from accessing or using city-owned property without property authorization.
“If any person or organization uses city property without proper authorization, the city’s existing policy states that the staff may tell the user to stop immediately and exit the property,” Deputy City Manager Megan Wooley-Ousdahl said during a council meeting Feb. 4. “Therefore, if federal agencies are using city property without the proper authorization, we, as staff, can ask them to leave. … If they don’t, under this resolution, the city will inform city departments, the community and the press regarding what is happening and the location where it is happening.”
Even when they are there legally with a judicial warrant, Wooley-Ousdahl said that the city will continue to inform the community about “what is happening and the location where it is happening.”
The city, along with many others in the state, has, for a while, chosen not to proactively provide information to immigration enforcement.
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“If there is a criminal element to an enforcement activity, the state and the cities are obligated to assist with that, and the police departments and other city departments do follow those provisions of the law, but the core element of this is not to affirmatively share information for civil immigration enforcement,” City Attorney Sky Woodruff said during the meeting.
The resolution does not necessarily introduce new policy but instead reaffirms the city’s position and plans in light of the current administration and informs the community, Woodruff said.
“We also recognize the reality that in the current environment, federal immigration enforcement agencies may not agree to comply and so we wanted to identify the steps the city would take to ensure that the community was informed,” Woodruff said.
The City Council voted unanimously to adopt the resolution.
“We need to ensure there is continued trust with our community — that when a meeting happens, that our community does not pause or stop from calling 911, that they know that here in South San Francisco, we are not collaborating,” Councilmember Eddie Flores said. “This is more than a resolution … this is expressing the values of this council and of this city.”
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