Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Immigration Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Town board reviews petition language urging U.S. probe of ICE and CBP practices
Summary
Greenberg town board members spent a work session revising a draft resolution petitioning the U.S. government to investigate alleged abusive tactics by ICE and CBP, debating whether wording implied local incidents and whether to describe the practices as "unconstitutional."
The Town Board of the Town of Greenberg spent a work-session item on March 3 revising a draft resolution that would petition the U.S. government to investigate and address alleged abusive tactics by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Board members focused first on precise wording after one member warned that the phrase "our communities" could be read as asserting that ICE had operated in Greenberg. Several members proposed broader phrasing such as "many parts of our country" or the "nation's communities" to avoid implying local incidents.
The board debated adding language that the agencies' practices have "violated residents' constitutional rights" and whether to keep the term "abuses." One member urged a formulation that targets "abusive tactics and practices" rather than lawful deployments, and members worked to distinguish unlawful conduct from routine agency activity.
Draft "whereas" language evolved to say the board "believes that because of these abusive tactics and practices, the continued... deployment of ICE and CBP agents is threatening the lives, safety and civil rights of residents," though members repeatedly asked for precision and for the resolution to specify that the board meant abusive practices rather than deployments per se.
In the proposed "now therefore be resolved" section members listed requested steps for the U.S. government, including an independent investigation of tactics and practices, adopting more rigorous training and measures to prevent abusive conduct, and consideration of structural changes to immigration-enforcement functions. No formal vote on the resolution was taken; members said they would revise the text and circulate changes for review.
The session record shows careful editing of legal and factual language to avoid overstating local impacts while expressing concern about reported practices elsewhere.
