The Abridged version:
- The Sacramento City Council voted 8-0 to adopt a new immigration platform aimed at supporting immigrant communities and bulking up rights for protestors.
- Over 200 people filled City Hall to express outrage over recent deadly shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota and the uptick in enforcement locally.
- The new immigration platform by the city also reaffirms rights to record interactions with immigration officers and to protest near the John Moss Federal Building in Downtown Sacramento.
Responding to escalations in U.S. immigration enforcement locally and nationally, the Sacramento City Council adopted deeper local protections for immigrant communities and protestors on Tuesday afternoon.
The council voted 8-0 to adopt a new immigration platform the reaffirms local support for immigrant communities and reaffirms rights to protest. Mayor Kevin McCarty was absent from the hearing to attend a meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors that begins in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.
Sacramento City Hall filled with over 200 attendees, as residents expressed outrage over recent deadly shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota and the uptick in enforcement locally.
The new immigration platform reaffirms rights of residents to record interactions with immigration officers and states the city’s support for statewide efforts to ban masks for federal agents and require immigration officers to identify themselves.
The policy also reaffirms free speech rights and rights to assemble near the John Moss Federal Building in Downtown Sacramento. The federal building, which houses local ICE offices and immigration courts, has been a focal point of protests.
Leaders note personal connections to ICE fears
Councilmember Eric Guerra recalled his own childhood growing up in a migrant farm worker family, where his family members had mixed citizenship status. He recalled the fear he and his siblings had as they would practice hiding by sitting in the closet and removing the door handles.
“My family faced that same level of political hysteria when we were deported … it was all part of this immense hate,” he said.
“There’s a real unfortunate undertone of hate that continues to be a cancer in our country and in our society that we need to combat,” Guerra said.
Councilmember Mai Vang, who’s family immigrated as refugees from Laos, recalled that members of her family continue to fear attending scheduled immigration hearings.
Before casting their votes in favor of the new immigration platform, several councilmembers said that it was not the last action the council would take on immigration and that more work lies ahead.
“We need to be ready when a crisis hits,” Vang said.
Residents urge more accountability
Marbella Sala, president of the Gardenland Northgate Neighborhood Association, said she worries about ICE apprehending her husband, who is a green card holder.
“I worry that he is an opinionated, articulate man and they will beat him if he challenges them,” Sala said.
“I asked our police officers at one of our meetings if someone is being beaten in front of your eyes and we call 911, what will you do? He said we can’t do a thing,” Sala said.
She urged the council and Sacramento Police Department to adopt more enforceable ordinances to encourage a change in police procedure.
Some residents accused the platform of lacking “teeth” and urged leaders to ban ICE from using city property and to restrict data-sharing with ICE.
The mayor has greenlit the ordinance to go before the council’s Law and Legislation Committee at it’s Feb. 10 meeting. The draft proposal could prohibit ICE from using city-owned property like garages, vacant lots and sidewalks as staging areas for enforcement activities.
Vang said that the city has not been moving fast enough to respond to federal immigration enforcement efforts.
“We are one year into this administration yet we have not voted as a mayor and as a council to put concrete protocols into place,” Vang said.
Vang also urged the council to adopt a community action plan that would set up a response framework in case “mass raids and enforcement actions” happen in Sacramento. The action plan would set up protocols across all city departments including the police department, she said.
Denis Akbari is a visual journalist for Abridged by PBS KVIE.