Ogden officials pause moves to craft measure meant to quell immigration jitters

OGDEN — A new legislative proposal in the Utah House has prompted a pair of Ogden City Council members to pause their moves to craft a resolution aimed at setting boundaries on local police involvement with federal immigration authorities.

The state measure, HB571, takes aim at illegal immigration, containing language meant to force cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents in tandem with President Donald Trump's continuing crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally.

The City Council members, Kevin Lundell and Alicia Washington, decry HB571 as state overreach. They have nevertheless put a hold on their local proposal — unique among Utah cities though other U.S. locales have pursued similar action — fearing it could run afoul of the Utah House measure.

"It certainly gave us pause to pull back and see what happens with this bill before we pursue further on our resolution," Lundell said Wednesday, a day after council members briefly discussed the proposal.

Among its many provisions, HB571, sponsored by Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, requires local police and sheriff's officials to put forward their "best efforts" in working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal immigration authorities.

Mayor Ben Nadolski, meanwhile, chimed in on the preliminary resolution put forward by the City Council members, questioning whether it's needed, regardless of HB571.

"I have also been advised that this resolution raises serious legal concerns under current state law, while also placing federal grant funding at risk. I won't support a symbolic measure that creates legal uncertainty, disrupts a proven process that holds criminals accountable, threatens funding that serves our residents and increases risk for our city," he said in a statement. "This proposal does all four of those things."

Lundell and Washington are working on a resolution meant to ease concerns of some in Ogden about the ongoing federal immigration crackdown, focused on detaining and deporting immigrants around the country. While lauded by many who say immigrants in the country illegally pose a safety threat and drain public resources, the crackdown is cause for concern among others who view immigrants more favorably and think the action is heavy-handed.

Broadly, the nonbinding Ogden measure — still a work in progress — would affirm the notion that city resources aren't to be used in enforcing U.S. immigration law except where required.

City officials were to have discussed the proposed resolution in more depth at a meeting on Tuesday, before HB571 publicly emerged as a numbered bill on Monday. Now Lundell and Washington plan to restart formal discussion on their proposal on March 3, with an informal public meeting preliminarily set for next week. Their resolution, as currently worded, contains declaratory statements of support for the immigrant community and spells out broad guidelines regarding enforcement of immigration law.

"City funds, personnel, equipment, data systems and facilities shall not be used to support or facilitate civil immigration enforcement activities, including immigration status inquiries, civil detainers, administrative immigration actions or coordinated enforcement operations, except where required by law," it reads.

It further states that the city won't pursue a formal cooperative accord with ICE, known as a 287(g) agreement, and that the city "does not engage in routine collaboration" with ICE on civil immigration enforcement. Nadolski and Police Chief Jake Sube have already said they don't plan to enter into a 287(g) accord, though several Utah sheriff's offices, including the Weber County Sheriff's Office, have inked such agreements.

"I have listened broadly, and the consistent message I hear is that people want safety, accountability and constitutional order. The system we already have in place does just that, and it has worked in Ogden and other cities across America for decades," Nadolski said.

'A space to talk about it'

Lundell has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the public, though just he and Washington among the City Council's seven members are sponsoring the proposal.

"They are all speaking into the harms that they've seen ICE cause in our community. They're speaking into the fact that our local community really needs trust with its law enforcement," Lundell said. His hope is to convey to immigrants in the country illegally that they "can call police and have trust in them."

Some people have pushed for more moves to make Ogden a sanctuary city for immigrants in the country illegally, he said. Others, meanwhile, have expressed concern with the proposal, fearing, among other things, that it may make Ogden more of a target for ICE agents.

Read more:

Voces de Utah

Looking for more news from Utah's Latino community? Visit our Voces de Utah section for more stories, events and features.

Washington said the feedback she's received is wide-ranging. "Whether someone opposes or approves of the resolution, people are just relieved ... and encouraged to have a space to talk about it," she said.

As for HB571, both Lundell and Washington see it as undue overreach by the state in local affairs. Lundell singled out the provision requiring local police to put forward their "best efforts" in working with federal authorities, noting what some view as heavy-handed action by ICE agents around the country.

"Given how we have seen with our own eyes how the enforcement of federal immigration law has played out across the country, and even in areas in our own state, our backyard, I think that clause should give lots of people pause and concern," he said at Tuesday's Ogden City Council meeting.

HB571 would also prohibit immigrants in the country illegally from opening Utah bank accounts wiring money abroad. It prohibits hiring of immigrants in the country illegally, subjecting offenders to ever-increasing fines of up to $250,000 on a third offense and revocation of their business license. The measure is one of several sponsored by Lee and other lawmakers that take aim at immigrants in the country illegally.

Related topics