The Iowa City City Council reaffirmed its stance on maintaining enforcement of federal immigration laws with a unanimous vote.
By Molly Hunter
The Iowa City City Council on Tuesday passed the first consideration of a resolution reaffirming the city’s stance on local enforcement of federal immigration laws. The resolution passed 7-0.
In recent weeks, many community members have written and spoken to city staff members about their concerns over the recent national rhetoric about immigration. As a result, conversations about formalizing Iowa City’s status as a sanctuary city have surfaced.
The resolution council voted on reaffirms the local Police Department’s priority on the enforcement of local laws and maintaining the safety of Iowa City residents.
Michelle Williamson was among the residents worried about the implications of possibly violating federal immigration laws.
“It doesn’t appear to be an immigration issue. It appears to be a law-enforcement issue,” she said. “And the way that I hear you explain it, we will not be going against any federal laws.”
Williamson expressed concern that, given the current political climate, going against the federal government might harm the city’s interests.
“I would hate for Iowa City to put itself in a position where we would lose any federal money,” she said.
Mayor Jim Throgmorton emphasized that the nature of the resolution’s language in no way violates federal laws.
Councilor Susan Mims also responded to comments made by residents about the importance of immigrants feeling safe when speaking to the police, framing the matter in terms of public safety.
“To me this is all about, primarily, public safety,” she said. “The comments made earlier about being afraid to be witnesses to the police, being afraid that questions are going to be asked — I think it’s really important that what we’re doing is to be welcoming, for public safety and does not in any way violate federal law.”
Marcela Hurtado, the president of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, was among those who stressed the importance of immigrant-community members being able to communicate with the police without fear of retribution because of their status.
“There’s a lot of trust that’s been built with the community police, and we hope that it continues this way,” Hurtado said. “The only way this trust is going to continue is if people feel safe talking about any circumstance that might arise.”
Dan Daly was among the many other residents to thank the council for its show of support.
“I want to applaud our city and our City Council in general for being protectors and … trying to serve the needs of all residents, guests, and visitors to the greater Iowa City area,” he said.
Daly said he feels it is important for the city not to be selective in who can feel welcome and safe.
“I realize that there is likely to be some backlash on this issue, and I urge you to be strong,” he said. “I don’t think we need to resort to any type of inflammatory labels or categories, and I think that deescalating the issue is probably the order of the day.”
Councilor Pauline Taylor said she felt the sanctuary-city issue was blown out of proportion thanks to the inflammatory messages community members received from outside sources.
“What I find most frustrating about this matter is that it’s been blown all out of proportion, primarily by an outside entity, with a lot of misinformation being spread that’s led to fear and intimidation,” she said.
University of Iowa student Carol McCarthy succinctly summed up the sentiment expressed by many.
“This is comforting for many people in the community — so thank you.”
