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Committee approves resolution barring civil immigration enforcement on city property
Summary
The steering and rules committee approved resolution file 251,634 on March 9, 2026, prohibiting use of city-owned or controlled property for civil immigration enforcement activities; public witnesses and council members urged rapid implementation, and the city attorney clarified that leased properties are excluded under the current draft.
The Milwaukee Common Council Steering & Rules Committee on March 9, 2026, approved a resolution (file 251,634) that prohibits the use of city-owned or controlled property for civil immigration enforcement activities, sponsor Alderperson Jocasta Samaripa told the committee.
Samaripa said the resolution is the first in an 'ICE out MKE' legislative package and is designed to protect Milwaukeeans’ constitutional and civil rights by barring staging, processing or operational use of city parking lots, ramps, vacant lots, parks and garages by civil immigration enforcement agencies. She said the resolution also limits nonpublic areas of city-owned buildings from being used for civil immigration enforcement except when required by law or when a judicial warrant is obtained.
Public witnesses urged adoption. Christine Numan Ortiz of Voces de la Frontera said the policy is about defending constitutional rights and protecting community safety: "This policy is about defending constitutional rights and protecting our community," she said. Anne Ritchie of Indivisible and Comite de las Fronteras said the city needs enforceable laws, not only symbolic statements: "We need to have actual laws ... and I think that's what the resolution today does." Michael Pointer Mace, cochair of an Immigrant Solidarity committee, urged protections for "sensitive locations" such as places of worship, schools and courthouses.
Council members voiced unanimous committee-level support and asked for the file to be advanced quickly to full council. Alderman Brower said "the time is urgent" and urged immediate consideration by the council.
Alderwoman Coggs asked whether a privately owned facility leased to the city (an MPD horse-training facility raised in media reports) would be covered. A city attorney advised that the current draft applies to city-owned or city-controlled facilities and that leased property is excluded, a point members discussed as a possible subject for future amendment to broaden scope.
A motion to adopt the resolution was called; hearing no objections, the committee approved the file in committee and adjourned.
The resolution’s proponents said it aligns with Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee County policies that emphasize warrants for enforcement activity; committee members and witnesses emphasized the resolution’s purpose in maintaining trust between immigrant communities and public institutions.
