A Columbus woman used the public agenda during the city council meeting to make a plea for transparency from the mayor when it comes to local law enforcement’s dealings with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Amy Spencer’s message to Mayor Skip Henderson comes on the heels of two deadly shootings involving ICE in Minnesota.
Spencer used her five minutes in front of council to say citizens have enjoyed a good working relationship with law enforcement, but any presence of ICE could strain that relationship. “Our immigrant neighbors are a vital, vibrant part of our community and they should not live in fear of being terrorized by our government,” Spencer said.
“What we respectfully ask the mayor as head of law enforcement is to provide transparency to your citizens about the role of local law enforcement is playing in immigration in Columbus. We ask that an update be given publicly both written and spoken on easy to access platforms in English and Spanish regarding any and all communications, collaborations, agreements or lack of agreements that local law enforcement have with ICE.”
Spencer also urged the local police not to cooperate with ICE when judicial warrants are not present and for council to use its authority to ban masks worn by agents on the local level. “We teach our children from a young age that the people that wear masks are the bad guys…we do not need masked agents of the state in Columbus,” she said during her address.
Mayor Henderson responded that he was open to communication with the community. “We have had conversations with representatives from ICE in the past and I can tell you what our police department’s philosophy is, they don’t go looking for anybody who might not have a visa to be in our country.”
“The only way they will ever participate with ICE is if there is a warrant and they are looking to apprehend somebody who has committed a crime in our community or other areas.” Henderson said local law enforcement are only policing people who have broken the law.
