Minneapolis Mayor Warns Donald Trump on Undocumented Immigrants

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, a Democrat who endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, issued a statement Saturday warning President-elect Donald Trump on the issue of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Trump made the issue of immigration — specifically undocumented immigrants — a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. He has repeatedly stated he will build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and make Mexico pay for its construction.

“I will continue to stand by immigrants in Minneapolis. For years, Minneapolis has codified in ordinance that our police officers will not do the work of the Federal government and ICE regarding immigration status," Hodges said.

"If police officers were to do the work of ICE it would harm our ability to keep people safe and solve crimes. Witnesses and victims of crimes won't come forward if they think our police officers will question or detain them about their immigration status. Our ordinance has helped us solve crime and keep communities safer. If our police were doing the work of ICE, Minneapolis would be less safe for everyone, regardless of immigration status."

"In his quest to scapegoat immigrants, Donald Trump has threatened cities’ Federal funding if we do not change this practice. I repeat: I will continue to stand by and fight for immigrants in Minneapolis regardless of President-elect Trump’s threats. I will not compromise the public safety of the people of Minneapolis to satisfy Trump’s desire to put politics before public safety. If Congress follows through on President-elect Trump’s threat to cities, they will have our hardworking officers bear the brunt of their own obstructionism. The complete failure of President-elect Trump's allies in Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform should not be borne by our local police officers who already have a tough job to do."

"Minneapolis is being built and strengthened by people from all over the world and I am grateful for their commitment to our city. I stand with them today and will continue to take that stand as the President-elect prepares to take office."

The Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, title 2, chapter 19 states:

"Public safety officials shall not undertake any law enforcement action for the purpose of detecting the presence of undocumented persons, or to verify immigration status, including but not limited to questioning any person or persons about their immigration status."

Image via Tony Webster, Flickr, used under Creative Commons