Residents ask Decorah City Council to place separation ordinance on future agenda

Dozens of Decorah residents asked the Decorah City Council on Aug. 4 to place a proposed "separation ordinance" on a future council agenda so the community can discuss limits on local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Joshua Rotel Khan, a Decorah resident, said, "We're living in a time when immigration enforcement is increasingly aggressive and political" and asked the council to "put the separation ordinance ... on a future agenda, and commit to talking openly and officially." The ordinance proponents described the measure as a local policy to reduce local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to limit harmful data collection, and to increase transparency around ICE contacts with local jails.

Supporters framed the request as a first step to preserve community…