Is Lansing a Sanctuary City or not?

Report from a participant

By Edilberto Montemayor

Lansing Council Member Kathie Dunbar worked with a broad coalition of individuals and
groups pushing for a resolution to affirm that Lansing is a truly welcoming and safe
(or sanctuary) city for all, regardless of immigration status.

It is worth noting that resolutions consist of two kinds of clauses: [1] WHERE AS clauses
that provide the background, introduction and rationale for the resolution; and [2] BE
RESOLVED clauses that state the practical (policy) implications of a resolution.

The peoples coalition responded to the concerns expressed by other Lansing City
Council members and by Lansings City Attorney. Following some of the City Attorneys
concerns, the peoples coalition went beyond speaking with legal experts from pro-
immigrant organizations and consulted also with lawyers from organizations that
represent municipal governments.

The peoples coalition researched existing resolutions, participated in conference calls

with legal experts recognized nationally, and developed a simple action-oriented BE
RESOLVED clause for the City Council Resolution under consideration.

All experts agreed in that the BE RESOLVED clause proposed by the peoples coalition was
legal, clear and likely to be effective. They also agreed in that legal precedent DID NOT
support the concerns expressed by the Citys Attorney.

Unfortunately, City Councils leadership ignored the peoples proposal and pushed
a resolution that was mostly cosmetic and had no practical implications.

On April 3, 2017, Mayor Bernero issued an Executive Order concerning the

Treatment of Immigrants and Refugees by Lansing officers and employees. This
Executive Order (number 2017-01) incorporates all the elements in the BE RESOLVED
clause proposed by the peoples coalition, although with slightly different wording.

Further, the Executive Order includes policies that go beyond what the peoples
coalition requested.

The table on next page aligns the elements in the proposal by the peoples coalition (left
column) and the Mayors Executive Order (right column)

Later that evening, City Council amended the (cosmetic) resolution they were pushing to
state that City Council concludes Lansing is a sanctuary city as explicated in Mayor
Berneros Executive Order, which (must be repeated) goes beyond what the
peoples coalition requested.

Thus, the answer is

Yes! Lansing is a Sanctuary City!

Michigan Latinx Info Cluster E-mail: edilberto.f.montemayor@gmail.com

 Is Lansing a Sanctuary City or not?
What the people wanted
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, absent any
requirement by federal or state statute or court
decision, no City funds or resources shall be
used to gather or disseminate information
about the immigration status of individuals in
the City of Lansing. The prohibition set forth
here shall include but not be limited to:
1. Asking or recording information about any
persons immigration status.
2. Pursuing, detaining, questioning or
arresting any person based solely on his or her
immigration status.
3. Assisting federal immigration officers
attempting to pursue, detain, question, or arrest
any person based solely on CIVIL infractions to
Federal Immigration laws.
4. Assisting federal immigration officers and
honoring ICE detainers without an existing
judicial arrest warrant or equivalent court order.
5. Providing federal immigration officers
nonspecific access to municipal or court
documents or jail records for the sole purpose of
identifying undocumented immigrants.
PLUS
PLUS
Michigan Latinx Info Cluster
What we got
Mayor Berneros Executive Order
(2017-01)
Lansing officials, officers and employees will not
ask about, nor record information on, any persons
immigration status, except as required by federal or
state statute or court decision.
PLUS: Lansing Police Department personnel are
prohibited from soliciting information regarding
immigration status from persons who are seeking
police services or are the victims of, or witness to, a
crime.
Lansing Police Department personnel will not,
independently or in assisting other law enforcement
agencies, stop, pursue, interrogate, investigate, arrest or
otherwise detain a person based solely on their
immigration status or suspected violations of
immigration law.
Lansing Police Department personnel will not enter into
any agreement or Memoranda of Agreement to perform
the functions of federal immigration agents for the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Section
287(g) of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA).
Lansing Police Department shall not continue to
detain an individual beyond their initial release time
pursuant to an immigration detainer request without a
valid judicial warrant.
In addition, officers shall not arrest or detain
individuals based on administrative immigration
warrants, including those entered in Michigan Law
Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) or National
Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
Lack of government-issued identification or limited
English ability shall not be used as a pretext to
contact federal immigration authorities. Enlisting the
assistance of the Immigration Customs and Enforcement
should only be utilized when crimes of a serious nature
are being investigated.
Individuals in the custody of the Lansing Police
Department shall be subject to the same booking,
processing, release, and transfer procedures,
policies, and practices of the Department,
regardless of actual or suspected citizenship or
immigration status.
When dealing with persons who lack a State identification
card or a drivers license, the methods used for
establishing identification shall be uniform. Acceptable
forms of identification, which must include a
photograph of the individual, include, but are not
limited to: current or previous drivers licenses from
any U.S. state or foreign country, government-
issued IDs by a U.S. jurisdiction, foreign passports,
and consular ID cards. Individuals should not be
stopped or detained solely for the purpose of
establishing their identity.
E-mail: edilberto.f.montemayor@gmail.com