Council member proposes resolution seeking FOIA requests to DHS on ICE activity in Durham

A council member told colleagues at the Durham City Council work session that they will draft a resolution asking the city to make regular Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of Homeland Security for information about any Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforcement activity in the city.

The council member said the intent is to get basic transparency about ICE activities. “At a bare minimum ... we frequently lament the fact that we don't know what they're doing. At a bare minimum, we'd like to know that and have some transparency,” the council member said during the announcements section of the Aug. work session.

The speaker asked colleagues whether they would be amenable to placing the resolution on the council’s next work session agenda; one colleague responded, “Yep. Fair enough.” The speaker said they would draft the resolution and circulate it to council members before the next meeting.

City staff did not present or ask for a formal council action on the proposal during the work session. The city manager did not announce any administrative steps taken on the matter during the meeting.

The proposal as described would direct staff to use the federal Freedom of Information Act to seek records from the Department of Homeland Security; the transcript uses the phrase “freedom of information act requests to the Department of Homeland Security.” No draft text, timing for submission of a formal resolution for council adoption, or specific records sought were provided at the meeting.

The discussion occurred in the announcements portion of the work session rather than during a formal agenda item. No vote or direction to city staff beyond the maker’s intent to draft a resolution was recorded in the transcript.

If the council receives a draft resolution at a future meeting it will be listed on the agenda and any recorded vote would be part of the meeting minutes.