A state House committee held a hearing Wednesday on legislation that would outlaw “sanctuary cities” in Michigan.
The bills would ban local rules that police officers cannot ask about the immigration status of a suspect or a witness unless it’s tied to their investigation.
Lansing City Council member Kathy Dunbar says local police officers should not have to act as federal immigration agents.
“We don’t enforce federal tax law. We don’t enforce federal maritime law.”
Many police departments use those rules to focus efforts on enforcing local and state laws. Local officials also say people are more likely to report crimes if they’re not afraid they’ll wind up in a trouble over their immigration status.
Democratic state Representative Jeremy Moss says that’s why he’s opposed to the bills.
“You are now subjecting police officers to criminal penalties for following the directive of their police department to not ask for someone’s immigration status.”
Susan Reed is an attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She says local police don’t want to be forced to do the job of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Local officers are not ICE officers, just like they’re not they’re not IRS tax collectors or federal wildlife officers. That’s a resource that many local communities make.”
The Republican sponsors say local governments should not be allowed to keep officers from enforcing federal immigration laws.