Source- Santa Fe New Mexican
The City Council approved two measures Wednesday reaffirming Santa' Fe’s status as an immigrant-friendly city — a day after another wave of immigration arrests statewide.
Along with a resolution passed two weeks ago barring the use of city property for immigration enforcement purposes, the measures were proposed in response to public outcry after immigration arrests this summer, including of a man who had legal status who was arrested while taking his daughter to a medical clinic.
One of the measures passed will add a council representative as a nonvoting member of the city Immigration Committee. The other reaffirms past legislation supporting immigrants and encourages community leaders “to fact-check public safety information.” Both passed unanimously as part of the consent agenda, where the council approves a slate of items in a single vote.
Wednesday’s meeting came a day after federal agents raided a Santa Fe housing construction site and made several arrests. The arrests appear to be part of what the Department of Homeland Security described in a Wednesday Facebook post as a “crackdown” in New Mexico that led to 237 arrests.
Twelve people were arrested locally, Councilor Pilar Faulkner said at Wednesday’s meeting, citing data from local rapid response groups that track Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
While DHS described the operation as targeting “gangs and violent offenders,” advocates for the immigrant community have said ICE operations are targeting law-abiding residents, including people who have legal status, and creating a culture of fear where people are afraid to go to work and to school.
“Workers who dedicate their lives to building New Mexico should not be treated as disposable, and no family should live under the threat of being torn apart,” Marcela Diaz, director of immigrant rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido, said in a Wednesday statement.
Immigration Committee
Diaz is a member of the Immigration Committee, an advisory group restarted last year to advise city officials on ways to support immigrants.
On Wednesday, councilors approved a resolution sponsored by Mayor Michael Garcia and Councilors Alma Castro, Liz Barrett and Paul Bustamante to add a council member to the committee following a failed attempt to do so last year.
Supporters said the addition would give the committee a more direct line of communication to the council. The resolution states the councilor, who will be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the City Council, will serve as a nonvoting representative who does not count toward the committee’s quorum.
Immigration Committee member Jessica Aguirre said at an Oct. 7 council committee meeting that the Immigration Committee preferred this to another proposal under which a councilor would have served as the committee chair.
“This approach helps avoid potential conflicts of interest while preserving the committee’s role as an independent citizen advisory body,” she said.
Law enforcement
Councilors also approved a resolution sponsored by Mayor Garcia and Councilors Lee Garcia, Faulkner, Amanda Chavez and Jamie Cassutt affirming the city’s commitment to past legislation supporting immigrants and encouraging community members and leaders to fact-check public safety information.
The resolution appears to have stemmed from councilor frustration over remarks Castro made questioning whether police were trustworthy following a spate of ICE arrests in August. Castro said at the time she was frustrated police didn’t do anything to stop ICE from arresting people.
Police have had a longstanding policy of not helping with immigration enforcement. During an Oct. 7 committee discussion, interim fire Chief Scott Ouderkirk reiterated that the city does not share people’s private information, including immigration status, with outside agencies, “We never have and never will,” he said.
The resolution originally had language stating the council encourages “all residents, regardless of immigration status, to rely on law enforcement and emergency services.” An amendment sponsored by Barrett and Councilor Pat Feghali removed that phrase and changed it to “reaffirming governing body support of local law enforcement and emergency services.”
Both councilors said that while they respect police, they did not feel it was appropriate for the council to tell residents what to think or who to trust.
“A lot of people of color have had negative experiences in America in the criminal justice system,” Barrett said during a September committee meeting.