The city council voiced its desire to move forward with a stronger legal framework to protect the immigrant population
By YUENJO FAN — city@theaggie.org
On Feb. 3, the Davis City Council convened for its first general meeting of the month.
Largely focused on community concerns about United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the meeting centered on the city’s intent to move toward a Sanctuary City Ordinance.
While a resolution acts as a formal declaration of sentiment or stance, an ordinance turns this declaration into a legally binding action with higher legitimacy and authority. The City of Davis currently has a sanctuary city resolution, but not an ordinance.
Kelly Stachowicz, Davis assistant city manager, touched upon the city’s current stance on being a sanctuary city.
“The city does have a sanctuary city resolution that first came to be in the 1980s and has been revised and updated two times since,” Stachowicz said. “The last time [it was updated] was about a decade ago. Each time it has been expanded and reworded to address the issues that were pertinent for that period in time.”
Recently, the Davis public has increasingly voiced concerns that the current resolution may not be strong enough to enforce Davis’ sanctuary city stance. Many public commenters cited the ICE-related incidents in Minnesota, fearing that such circumstances may make their way to the City of Davis. Other commenters expressed unease about the number of Flock cameras — surveillance camera systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and operated by law enforcement — within the city. The city of Davis currently operates at least sixteen of these surveillance cameras.
As explained by Stachowicz, the presence of increased surveillance technology has prompted the city’s Human Relations Commission to request that the Davis City Council move forward with a legally binding Sanctuary City Ordinance.
“[The Human Relations Commission] is asking to draft an ordinance related to sanctuary status, and for the council to direct staff to review the language in the draft developed by the commission,” Stachowicz said. “If [the city council] is interested in an ordinance or something of that nature, we [would] need to involve other resources: the city attorney, namely.”
The recommendation for a Sanctuary City Ordinance was unanimously supported by all members of the city council, including Davis Mayor Donna Neville.
“I am very supportive of the council adopting a Sanctuary City Ordinance: that is where I ultimately want us to land,” Neville said. “I want us to be as strong and protective as [we] possibly can be. The real issues that we deal with are largely the concerns around federal preemption.”
Josh Chapman, council member and former Davis mayor, echoed Neville’s sentiment.
“I am in alignment in support of us doing an ordinance and this process being undertaken through our staff team,” Chapman said.
The council also vowed to continue the city’s alignment with the California Values Act, a state bill passed in 2017 that restricts local and state law enforcement cooperation with immigration enforcement.
Davis Police Chief Todd Henry addressed the Davis City Council on how the Davis Police Department is handling the current situation with regards to immigration enforcement.
“We’ve had these internal conversations as to how we give guidance to our officers,” Henry said. “How do we avoid a violent confrontation with another armed law enforcement entity? We’ve also had these conversations with our school districts. So, we’re working through contingencies, [because] this is a very complex issue; we do have some restrictions around what we can and can’t do. There are also concerns about safety for the officers, safety for the community and so those are things that we will continue to work through.”
Throughout the meeting, Neville reaffirmed the commitment of Davis law enforcement to the California Values Act. She also acknowledged the process required to pass an ordinance and asked the public to temper expectations for an immediate solution.
“We are limited tonight to [only] providing further feedback to staff about what our expectations were from the Human Relations Commission,” Neville said.
The city council cautioned the public that — though the city will continue to take protective actions — federal law ultimately takes precedence over state power in immigration. Neville then voiced her gratitude for the numerous public comments throughout the night, many of which came from personal experiences and places of deep concern.
“I want to say how appreciative I am of the many public comments that we received over the last 24 hours about the issue,” Neville said. “These are terrifying times, and I am so appreciative of all the community engagement and your interest in this issue.”
The Davis City Council will reconvene to further discuss plans for a Sanctuary City Ordinance on Feb. 17. More information can be found on their website.
Written by: Yuenjo Fan — city@theaggie.org
