Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan is increasing his support for the city’s immigrant population and asylum seekers, now calling for restrictions on city employee interactions with federal immigration agents.
Ryan has announced plans for an executive order that will prohibit city employees from assisting federal immigration work, whether that’s ICE or border patrol. He says the standard would apply to any civil cases involving federal departments, which include immigration cases, but not criminal arrests and investigations.
“We're going to make sure no apparatus of the City of Buffalo's government is working with Homeland Security and ICE to harass people who are living in the city of Buffalo. So, the City of Buffalo is not involved in any civil warrants in any form of government.”
New York Civil Liberties Union Education Strategist Quinn Martha works with students in Buffalo and surrounding areas. She says an executive order would help ease concerns about getting detained during everyday life.
“Our neighbors deserve to go to the grocery store, to go to the hospital, to take their kids to school without fear of being pulled over by, you know, a local police department, and then suddenly they're in ICE detention, which we see.”
Ryan did not give a specific timeframe for the order but said it would be “soon.”
Alex Simone, Buffalo Toronto Public Media.
