Minneapolis mayoral candidates weigh in on activist demands for Real Sanctuary City

Minneapolis, MN – On October 16, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) invited the leading Minneapolis mayoral candidates to a press conference to explain how they will protect the city from violent overreach by ICE and other federal agencies. Candidates Senator Omar Fateh, DeWayne Davis and Jazz Hampton all attended and spoke. Invitations were sent to Mayor Jacob Frey and Brenda Short, who did not attend the event.

The event was part of MIRAC’s Real Sanctuary Now campaign, which aims to strengthen the city’s separation ordinance. The law ostensibly prohibits collaboration between municipal employees and federal immigration enforcement agencies, but its limits were highlighted by a militarized raid in South Minneapolis on June 3, during which residents witnessed the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) assisting ICE and other federal agencies in blocking off the scene and conducting crowd control.

In place of the old ordinance, the Real Sanctuary Now campaign advocates for a stronger law, with four key demands.

MIRAC’s Real Sanctuary Now campaign advocates for an overhaul of the current separation ordinance and stronger protection for our Minneapolis community through four key demands. First, no collusion: no information sharing between local law enforcement and federal agencies. Second, no crowd control: no local law enforcement cooperation with ICE, HSI and other federal agencies, including supportive roles like crowd control and police taping. Third, no coverups: no face coverings to obscure federal agents’ identities; federal agents must clearly display their agency association and identify themselves with name plates and badge numbers. And fourth, real consequences: punitive measures for local law enforcement agents or agencies found to be in violation of the city’s separation ordinance.

MIRAC has been circulating these demands in a petition both online and in person, garnering more than 1500 signatures from the local community in less than two months. Members of the organization delivered some 1100 of those signatures, collected in just the first month of the campaign, to Mayor Jacob Frey’s office on October 6. The mayor has yet to respond.

The three candidates who attended the press conference addressed what they plan to do to strengthen the separation ordinance that exists in Minneapolis to prevent the Minneapolis Police Department from working with ICE in addition to whether they would sign onto MIRAC’s full list of Real Sanctuary Now demands. Fateh, Davis, and Hampton all announced that they will support and officially sign onto the demands.

Davis went as far to say that if elected as mayor, he “will organize the entire city enterprise to be looking for every opportunity to resist whatever comes from Washington D.C. when it comes to our immigrant neighbors.” This is in stark contrast to the statement from mayor Frey’s office saying that “he has problems with some of the demands,” according to Minnesota Public Radio News, and therefore will not sign onto MIRAC’s campaign.

MIRAC member Myrka Zambrano reminded the attendees of the press conference that the leadership of Minneapolis “Do not serve a federal agency, they do not serve a king. They serve us, their constituency. They have a responsibility to us, and we will hold them accountable.”

MIRAC plans to keep pressure on the top mayoral candidates until election day on November 4. Follow @miracmn on social media platforms to keep up with future actions relating to this campaign.

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