photo by: City of Lawrence

Mariel Ferreiro, co-founder of the Sanctuary Alliance, addresses the Lawrence City Commission as part of a special meeting June 28, 2022,

To the disappointment of advocates, city leaders have agreed to strike certain protections for immigrants from the city’s books out of concern they run afoul of a new state law banning sanctuary cities.

The Lawrence City Commission voted 4-1, with Mayor Courtney Shipley opposed, to strike several provisions from city ordinance that generally prohibit police from cooperating with federal immigration agencies on noncriminal immigration matters. The city previously worked with the Sanctuary Alliance for about a year on the ordinance, which was approved in fall 2020, and alliance members called for the city to leave the protections in place in defiance of what they called a racist and xenophobic state law. Though commissioners indicated they opposed the state law, which bans so-called sanctuary cities, all but Shipley said the city had to make the changes to align with the state law before it went into effect on July 1.

Alliance member Jordan Bickford told commissioners that the city was acting preemptively — before being put under review or ordered — to remove protections for immigrants to comply with a state law that does not reflect Lawrence values.

“Laws and government are not infallible and they deserve diligent scrutiny, and it is our responsibility to stand against them when we know they are wrong,” Bickford said.

Alliance member Alex Kimball Williams said the catalyst for seeking the protections was when a Lawrence police officer responded to a request for assistance from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. Kimball Williams said that incident — which occurred in July 2019 and resulted in a man being temporarily detained before it was determined he did not have a warrant as the ICE agent believed — broke trust with the community, and that the group sought to reestablish that trust and make sure people felt comfortable coming to the police when needed.

Mariel Ferreiro, co-founder of the alliance, told commissioners that forward movement required courage and risk, and she encouraged them to consider that as they made their decision.

“We need you as commissioners to assess the risk,” Ferreiro said. “If it’s political, we ask you to think about who you truly represent and remind yourself we will remember what and who you fight for.”

As the Journal-World reported earlier this month, city attorneys called for completely striking five provisions from the city’s ordinance and making significant changes to related police department policies that generally prohibit police from cooperating with federal immigration agencies on noncriminal immigration matters and from collecting immigration status as part of police or other city business. The Sanctuary Alliance successfully asked the commission for more time to review changes and to engage with the alliance on the topic, but the changes proposed Tuesday continue to strike those prohibitions. However, in a change from the previous draft, the ordinance approved Tuesday adds a statement that says the city respects and observes the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, and that except as required by law, nothing in the ordinance “requires an employee or department of the City to request or document the immigration status of an individual.”

photo by: City of Lawrence

As part of a special meeting June 28, 2022, Vice Mayor Larsen discusses her vote to strike several provisions meant to provide protections for immigrants from city ordinance due to a new state law barring so-called sanctuary cities.

Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen, who was on the commission when the 2019 incident occurred and helped initiate work on the ordinance, was visibly emotional when making her comments.

“This makes me really sad — we worked on this for two years,” Larsen said. “… There was a lot of compromise, a lot of discussion, very heartfelt, and I thought we really came up with a good ordinance. The state can come in and in one swoop it’s gone.”

Larsen said the reason she was going to vote to pass the changes was to follow the advice of the city’s legal counsel and avoid legal action; however, she said that didn’t change “who we are” and the city’s goal to be a welcoming community. Other commissioners who voted in favor of the changes agreed, also speaking to the difficulty of the decision.

Shipley, the lone vote against the changes, thanked the alliance for continuing to fight at all levels of government and said she expected efforts between the city and the group to continue.

“I also expect continued community work with local law enforcement on the best practices to protect our community members,” Shipley said.

Before the vote, alliance members spoke to the need to continue to work with the city, particularly on police policies. After the meeting, they said they were disappointed with the result, but reiterated those goals. Ferreiro said the group would continue to make sure police practices and policies do not violate rights.

“I do believe the commissioners did hear that, that we’re not finished with this work,” Ferreiro said.