By The Circle
Minneapolis officials have advanced a proposal to strengthen the city’s two-decade-old separation ordinance, reaffirming limits on local involvement in federal immigration enforcement as residents express growing concern about intensified federal actions.
The measure, approved in early December by a City Council committee, reinforces existing rules that prohibit city employees — including police officers — from enforcing federal immigration law. The updated language states that cooperation with federal immigration enforcement could “have a chilling effect on immigrant populations’ willingness to report crime and cooperate with the city’s public safety efforts.”
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, a sponsor of the proposal, said Minneapolis must not divert local resources to carry out federal duties.
“The city of Minneapolis will be prioritizing using its limited, finite resources to advance the health and safety of its residents,” Chowdhury said. “And if our city personnel were to enforce federal immigration laws for the federal government, it would squander the limited municipal resources we have.”
Minneapolis first adopted its separation ordinance in 2003, shortly after Congress created the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. City leaders at the time raised concerns that the federal government would lean on local agencies to enforce immigration law.
The new measure would explicitly prohibit Minneapolis from entering into cooperation agreements with federal immigration agencies. More than a half-dozen Minnesota law enforcement agencies currently have formal partnerships with DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The proposed changes would prevent Minneapolis from doing the same.
Under the updated ordinance, any use of city public safety personnel during a federal immigration action must be documented in a report to the City Council, identifying what resources were used and to what extent. The measure would also require training on separation rules for newly hired city employees.
The ordinance does not block the Minneapolis Police Department from continuing its collaboration with federal law enforcement on other criminal investigations. MPD regularly works with agencies such as the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on cases involving drug trafficking, human trafficking and gang activity. Those partnerships have included federal RICO prosecutions aimed at dismantling violent street gangs.
The proposal includes language criticizing federal agents for wearing masks and concealing badges during enforcement actions. City leaders say those tactics undermine public trust, but the policy does not attempt to restrict federal agents’ conduct, noting the city lacks legal authority to impose such limits.
Dozens of residents testified at the meeting, urging the council to adopt the strongest protections possible. Many described fear in their neighborhoods as immigration enforcement escalates across Minneapolis and St. Paul.
“We need real and effective measures to protect us all,” said Audrey Forticaux, a member of the Unidos social justice group. “I am scared for my daughter’s day care workers. The majority of day cares in my area are all Hispanic people. And we’ve seen them being dragged out of daycares in other cities. It could happen here.”
