On May 12, the majority of Union City council members rejected a proposed ordinance that would prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities in city-owned buildings.
Instead, the city is reaffirming their resolution of being a “Compassionate City,” which was passed in 2017. The resolution says that the city will not engage in activities to enforce federal immigration law. It also says that the Union City Police Department doesn’t conduct sweeps to detain suspected undocumented residents.
The rejected ordinance would have given the city attorney the ability to sue ICE in civil court if ICE decided to monitor, surveil or detain people for civil immigration purposes in public and private city-owned buildings or property.
‘We are letting down those that are in our communities that are undocumented by giving them that false sense of hope’
– Councilmember Jaime Patiño
Councilmember Lance Nishihira supported the ordinance. “It’s not complete, it’s not symbolic. But having said that, it is important that everybody, every person who feels vulnerable today still needs to be vigilant, still needs to be aware,” he said.
Councilmember Jaime Patiño said they don’t want to mislead the community into thinking that criminal enforcement will be involved if ICE were to come to the city. “We are letting down those that are in our communities that are undocumented by giving them that false sense of hope,” he said.
Mayor Gary Singh said he also wants to reaffirm their compassionate city resolution. He said they will continue to monitor every situation with Union City’s police chief as they’ve done before. Singh said he has contacted the police chief to confirm if there is ICE presence in the city.
