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WARD 1 UPDATE
Hello Neighbors:
For many of us, the continued D.C. police collaboration with ICE, Homeland Security, and other federal agencies on immigration enforcement remains top of mind, even as news coverage has subsided.
Mayor Bowser and her administration have escalated the harm occurring in our neighborhoods from this federal takeover. People are afraid and angry and deserve straight answers about MPD’s collaboration with ICE.
Yesterday, the Council’s Judiciary Committee held a hearing at which dozens of residents again testified about the frightening and devasting tactics employed by those federal agencies. They described numerous incidents of Metropolitan Police Department officer presence and assistance to those agencies, in violation of the spirit and the letter of D.C.’s Sanctuary Values Act.
We again witnessed a complete lack of transparency from the Bowser administration about MPD’s collaboration with ICE, whose actions are upending families, and making us all less safe, violating DC law under the executive’s direction.
Despite repeated questioning from me, Council Chairman Mendelson and others, Executive branch officials continued to sidestep specific questions about MPD collaboration.
It’s clear the Mayor and her administration will continue to deny residents the truth about the full picture of MPD’s cooperation and block legislative oversight by the Council. When they say “we are not coordinating with ICE,” what they really mean is, we’re not calling it coordination with ICE.
The Mayor and MPD leaders refuse to acknowledge the extent of what they have allowed under their watch and to acknowledge what is plain as day.
Next week I’ll publish a report from our human rights roundtable with findings and recommendations, and I’ll introduce legislation to address D.C. government’s inadequate response, including clarifying language about the ways in which MPD officers are not allowed to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Read more on our website.
You can also read and watch my full remarks at yesterday’s hearing.
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