Council member asks committee to draft memo on limiting ICE activity on city property; law department asked to review

Council member Santiago Romero asked the Detroit Planning and Economic Development Committee to direct staff to draft a memo exploring how the city could limit or ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations on city property, including schools and places of worship, and the committee approved the request.

"Let's have these conversations. Let's do some work because we are in a very different place right now," Romero said, urging the committee to collect best practices used by other cities and to consider options ranging from ordinances to executive orders and state‑level or court engagement. Romero characterized the request as a motion for a memo and said the office would circulate the draft.

Graham Anderson of the law department asked that the memo be addressed to the law department as well. Romero agreed to do so and the chair recorded the action after hearing no objections.

Members who spoke in support framed the effort as protecting residents' safety and civil liberties; one member cited recent violent incidents elsewhere and urged protections that would focus on immigrant communities and places of worship. Romero referenced other large cities with similar policies and asked staff to research best practices before the committee considers formal legislative options.

Next steps: staff, including the law department, will receive the request and prepare a memorandum outlining legal options and examples from other jurisdictions for the committee to review.