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Volunteer urges Kearney leaders to reject 287(g) agreements and require officer identification
Summary
A volunteer for Kearney Indivisible told the council a petition signed by more than 512 residents asks the city, police and sheriff to reject 287(g) agreements with ICE and to require officers to display identification and refrain from wearing identity-obscuring masks except for SWAT.
Brad Stefan, a volunteer with Kearney Indivisible, presented an open letter signed by more than 512 local residents urging the council and local law enforcement to "reject any 287(g) agreement with the Department of Homeland Security" and to require law enforcement to clearly display identification while on duty, with the single exception of SWAT teams.
Stefan said the group is concerned that 287(g) agreements and officer anonymity can increase fear among immigrant communities, discourage crime reporting by victims and witnesses, and lead to civil-rights complaints and costly lawsuits in other cities. He said local officers are not trained in federal immigration enforcement and that cooperation should be rooted in judicial norms such as presumption of innocence and accountability. The Chair thanked Stefan and council members called the petition "straightforward"; no action was taken at the meeting, though Stefan asked that a resolution be considered in the future.
"We respectfully urge the Kearney City Council, Kearney Police Department, and Buffalo County Sheriff's Office to... reject any 287(g) agreement with the Department of Homeland Security," Stefan said while reading the group's letter.
