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Burnsville council directs staff to draft policy on federal immigration agencies staging on city property
Summary
After residents described recent ICE activity they said had intimidated immigrant neighbors and local businesses, the Burnsville City Council voted to direct staff to draft a policy restricting when federal immigration agencies may stage on city-owned property and to return it for council adoption.
Burnsville — The Burnsville City Council voted to direct city staff to draft a policy limiting when federal immigration agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security may use city-owned property for staging or processing operations.
At the start of the meeting’s public-comment period, resident Katarina “Katty” Gomez urged the council to "clarify that federal immigration agents may not use city owned parking lots, ramps, vacant properties, or parks" and to require officers to "display visible emblems or badges" while performing enforcement duties.
Another resident, Andrea Grazini, described several incidents she said involved large ICE deployments and aggressive tactics toward local observers, saying "ICE is shutting down our community" and recounting that officers pointed pepper spray at neighborhood observers and attempted to corral them.
City Manager Lindbergh told the council the city issued a public statement in December clarifying the municipal role on federal immigration enforcement, and he said "our local police department do not enforce federal immigration law or participate in immigration enforcement activity." Lindbergh added that the city maintains a landing page with FAQs and links to the statement on the city website.
Council member Schultz asked whether the city had any existing policy about federal agencies staging on city property; Lindbergh said the council does not currently have a policy on that point. Schultz then moved "that council directs city staff to draft a policy regarding ICE or DHS or associated agencies being able to stage on city-owned property, that that then be brought back to council for an adoption and a vote." The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Council and staff indicated the draft policy would be brought back for review, with a likely target of the Jan. 20 meeting for adoption.
Speakers during public comment also asked the city to track and report any costs incurred when Burnsville Police respond to federal immigration actions, including traffic-control or crowd-control expenses, and to provide multilingual signage and online resources explaining residents’ rights. Resident David Young urged elected leaders to be visible in affected neighborhoods to help reassure residents and support services such as school attendance and food distribution.
The council’s directive creates a next step rather than an immediate restriction: staff will draft potential language for a policy and return it to the council, which must vote to adopt any formal limit on federal-agency use of city property. Lindbergh also said council members and staff remain available to discuss what local police can and cannot do and that he would make related materials available on the city website.
The council took no other substantive actions on immigration policy at the meeting. The meeting concluded after the consent agenda passed and the council adjourned.
