Milwaukee would like to bar Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from staging on city-owned properties. And a new resolution, pending approval from the full Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson, would do just that.
On Monday, the Council’s Steering & Rules Committee approved a resolution that “prohibits the use of City owned or controlled properties for civil immigration enforcement actions.” The resolution is the third item to be approved from a so-called “ICE Out MKE” legislative package that was announced by members of the Council in February.
Properties identified by the latest resolution include “parking lots, vacant lots, garages, public buildings, and parks.”
“Like so many Americans across the country, our city was dismayed and heartbroken to hear the aggressive actions taken by federal immigration enforcement agencies in other cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, just right next door to us,” said lead sponsor Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa. “My colleagues and I have been implored by our constituents to prepare and do everything that we can to keep our constituents safe. […] This resolution that’s before you today prohibits the use of city properties for immigration enforcement activities.”
“We are on the right side of this, and we want to make sure that there are safe places for everybody in the City of Milwaukee,” said co-sponsor Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic. “I’ve been asked, ‘What is it that local government can do to stop the federal government?’ We’re going to find out everything that we can do. We cannot do everything, but we’re going to do all that we can.”