A proposal in the Minnesota Legislature would require local governments to collaborate with federal immigration officials as President Donald Trump’s administration vows to deport undocumented immigrants.
The Republican-backed bill would require county attorneys to report people without legal status who are arrested on suspicion of violent crimes to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, regardless of whether they are eventually charged.
It would also override city and county policies that limit or prohibit cooperation with federal immigration officials. Some local governments in the state, including the largest cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, have their own policies prohibiting city employees from inquiring about immigration status or being used for immigration enforcement.
Supporters of this proposal claim that its goal is to improve public safety. Rep. Max Rymer, R-North Branch, noted that Minneapolis officials and police recently doubled down on their policy prohibiting officers from asking about immigration status, according to MPR News.
“This is a very narrowly focused bill. Finally, we had an election in November that was primarily about illegal immigration. “It was the number one or number two issue for most Americans, and what this bill does is help keep our communities safe,” he said at a news conference on Wednesday.
However, there is strong opposition from immigrant rights and victims’ groups, as well as local governments. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter told the House Public Safety Committee that the proposal would divert critical city resources away from local needs and “bullies us into handing over local resources to a sector of enforcement that has never been our responsibility.”
The League of Minnesota Cities, which represents over 800 cities in the state, wrote in a letter to the committee that discussed the legislation on Wednesday that the proposal would “unnecessarily” interfere with local decision-making and could erode the trust built between local law enforcement and immigrant communities.
“This legislation jeopardizes positive relationships between city officials and immigrant communities. Local law enforcement agencies collaborate with ICE on a regular basis, while acknowledging that immigration enforcement is primarily the responsibility of the federal government,” wrote Anne Finn, intergovernmental relations director of the League of Minnesota Cities, in a letter.
Rymer reiterated that the proposal only applies to individuals accused of violent crimes, not all undocumented immigrants.
“Some of the feedback I’ve received on this bill is, what kind of door does it open? It does not open a door. It is very narrowly focused in its scope, and we are ensuring that we are first and foremost matching what the Trump administration stated when it said we would primarily deal with violent criminal offenders,” he said.
As the House prepares for a tie next week, it will need Republican and Democratic support to move forward. Rymer pointed out that the Laken Riley Act, which expanded the types of crimes for which noncitizens should face mandatory detention, had bipartisan support in Congress before President Trump signed it into law.
“I think this is a very reasonable proposal that should get broad bipartisan support as well,” Rymer said.
