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Advocates press D.C. Council to strengthen Sanctuary Values Act enforcement, cut cooperation with ICE
Summary
Advocacy groups and residents urged the Council to codify noncooperation boundaries, require public reporting and restore funding for legal and social services to protect immigrant residents caught up in joint enforcement activity.
Multiple organizations urged legislative action to prevent MPD and other District agencies from sharing information or otherwise assisting federal immigration enforcement. Christina Roth of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund urged the council to "prohibit the Metropolitan Police Department from providing assistance to immigration's custom enforcement officers as permitted in Chief Smith's August 14 executive order" and to make Sanctuary Values Act data public.
Speakers also pressed the Council to restore or expand funding for services they said protect residents from enforcement harms: legal aid, mental-health supports, Housing First initiatives and family-reunification programs. Kathryn Lamfield said recent budget choices worsened residents’ vulnerabilities, citing that the mayor funded "$0 in permanent supportive housing for individual adults" in recent budgets. Witnesses recommended statutory clarification, stronger city reporting requirements, and consideration of temporary restraining orders or litigation strategies used in other jurisdictions.
