Berkeley council adds urgent resolution denouncing ICE/CBP surges, signs on to Minnesota amicus brief

The Berkeley City Council on Jan. 27 added an urgent resolution demanding an end to recent ICE and CBP surges and calling for leadership changes at the Department of Homeland Security as well as congressional guardrails on future DHS funding.

The resolution, introduced by Council member Blackabee and moved onto the consent calendar, cites recent deaths in Minnesota tied to federal immigration enforcement and calls for the city to support legal action. Mayor Mary Ishii, speaking from Washington, D.C., said Berkeley will sign an amicus brief supporting Minnesota's challenge to the federal operation and framed the action as consistent with the city's sanctuary policies: "The city of Berkeley stands in solidarity with Minnesota and the Twin Cities, and will do everything it can to support them and protecting their communities against this unprecedented federal intrusion," she said.

Why it matters: Council members and dozens of public commenters pressed for both symbolic and concrete steps to protect immigrant communities, including canceling city contracts for surveillance tools that some speakers said could aid enforcement. Several speakers urged the council to pair statements with local actions; public commenters repeatedly raised the city’s Flock surveillance contract and called for its cancellation.

What the council did: The council voted to add the resolution to the consent calendar and then approved the full consent calendar by roll call, making the urgency resolution part of tonight’s adopted items. The motion to add the resolution was presented as an immediate action requested after the agenda was posted, and the council recorded unanimous support during the roll call that added the item.

Context and next steps: Mayor Ishii said the city attorney already has authority to join amicus briefs and that Berkeley will send the brief in support of Minnesota’s federal challenge. The resolution also asks the council to direct copies to the city’s congressional delegation and Minnesota leaders. Several commenters asked council members to pursue additional local measures such as canceling surveillance contracts and strengthening local legal preparedness; the council did not, in tonight’s meeting, adopt immediate operational changes to surveillance agreements but did include the resolution among the consent items it approved.