The San Diego City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday afternoon opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics.
The agenda item was brought forward by councilmembers Marni von Wilpert, Vivian Moreno and Sean Elo-Rivera.
It opposes what they say are “unnecessarily aggressive and excessive tactics by federal agents” from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Dozens of residents spoke, largely in favor of the resolution. But many said they wanted more clarity on the San Diego Police Department’s (SDPD) role in immigration enforcement.
The council members who proposed the ordinance said ICE operations have instilled fear in communities across the country and in the city of San Diego, which is in “a binational region that has long been a destination for migrants, refugees, and asylees.”
“I know that excessive force and chaos do not make our communities safer. All it does is erode trust and undermine real public safety," von Wilpert said at Monday’s council meeting. "Government power must be exercised with restraint, with accountability and respect for human dignity. Not through fear or chaos that put us further at risk,”
Notably, the resolution authorizes San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert to take legal action — like filing an amicus brief — on behalf of the City to support the states of Minnesota and Illinois in lawsuits against DHS and other federal defendants.
Those separate lawsuits were filed in January and challenge current immigrant enforcement practices under the Trump Administration, citing violations of the 10th Amendment.
“When federal agents create fear in our neighborhoods, when they target people based on how they look or sound, when they appear driven by quotas or financial incentives to arrest people on our streets — it damages that vital trust in our community and makes us all less safe,” von Wilpert said during the meeting.
