Amid the nationwide debate over immigration, Bay City commissioners opted to delay a vote on whether local law enforcement officers should collaborate with ICE.
Residents packed into city hall Monday evening, as the board debated three resolutions brought by Commissioner Christopher Runberg. Protesters in favor of and against the ICE resolutions picketed outside of city hall before the meeting.
The resolutions would have stopped local cops from detaining individuals without a judicial warrant, banned the usage of masks and stopped any “city resources” from being used to enforce federal immigration law.
Bay City Mayor Christopher Girard vetoed a similar measure last year. He said the resolutions would put the city at legal and fiscal risk.
Bill Waterman is a city resident who spoke in favor of the resolutions during the public comment period.
"If we allow the finances to be our main reason not to make a moral stand, we are no different than a guard dog laying underneath the table of the federal government hoping for scraps from their table,” he said. “That is all we are at this point."
Jeff Doyen opposed the measure and said immigration laws should be enforced.
"Our funds aren't the greatest,” Doyen said. “We don't have enough to support them, so we're going to continue to bring more people in who can't afford to support themselves?”
The Bay City Police Department currently does not detain individuals for alleged federal immigration violations. They also do not currently engage in immigration enforcement activities.
“I'm not a constitutional scholar, but I know enough that I don't want to get sued,” said Bay City Public Safety Director Caleb Rowell at the meeting. “Immigration detainers... I would say is unsettled law.”
Immigration detainers are requests sent by ICE that ask a local police department to detain a suspected illegal alien for at least 48 hours.
Ultimately, the resolutions were sent back to Runberg, who said he would consider amending some of them.
In a statement, Girard said his position on the matter hasn’t changed.
“Resolutions designed to send a message beyond our city limits must be carefully weighed against the potential legal, fiscal, and operational consequences for our residents,” he said.
