HELENA — After a lengthy special meeting Thursday night, the Helena City Commission agreed to rescind a January resolution on immigration enforcement that sparked a legal battle with the state. However, that back-and-forth may not be over, as the commission called for proposing language for a similar resolution, to see if it can pass muster with state leaders.
Mayor Emily Dean called Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s investigation of the city and threatened legal action over the resolution “infuriating,” but she said the financial risks to the city were too great to keep it in place for now.
“We are being baited into a fight that is rigged, and I don’t believe I would be acting responsibly if I let grant dollars with real and tangible impact be put at risk,” she said.
The meeting, held at the Helena Civic Center, began at 5:30 p.m. It was after 11 p.m. by the time the commission voted 4-1 to remove the resolution, which clarified policies for when and how the Helena Police Department will cooperate with federal immigration officials – including saying the city won't disclose a person's immigration status unless required by law.
This decision came two weeks after Knudsen’s office sent the city a letter, saying the resolution violated the state’s law banning “sanctuary cities.” That law includes significant financial penalties for municipalities that don’t comply, including $10,000 fines every five days and the potential loss of state grant funding.
The commission also voted 4-1 Thursday to direct attorneys to work on possible amended language for the resolution, clarifying that it would allow sharing of immigration information “for a lawful purpose” – and to present it to Knudsen’s office to see if it would comply with the state law.
“I wish the state would have come to us first to have had that conversation, and I believe much of this hoopla could have been avoided,” Dean said. “I’m asking them to engage with us now.”
Attorneys representing the city said the goal of the resolution had never been to create a “sanctuary city” policy or to challenge state or federal law. They said, while the commission could try to amend the resolution, that wouldn’t guarantee it would satisfy Knudsen’s objections.
“It is my educated belief, both from 26 years in this job and in specific cases with the AG's office, that they will find additional and new problems with any amended language that you try to draft,” said Tasha Jones, an outside attorney brought in to advise the city. “That is not a good use of our time. Instead, we should draw them to the table and see if they will talk to us about this. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but we won't know until we try.”
Jones recommended rescinding the resolution – which she said would end the justification for Knudsen’s office to continue their investigation of the city – and then working informally on other possible language.
The commission held their meeting at the Civic Center to provide more space for members of the public, after the crowd for January’s meeting filled up the commission chambers and several overflow rooms. They heard another three hours of public comment Thursday, from more than 70 people speaking in the auditorium or online.
More people opposed to the resolution commented during this meeting than in January. They called for supporting the immigration enforcement actions by ICE and other federal agencies, and argued that Helena had overstepped its authority.
“The way it's set up here is correct, and your meddling is redundant and it's unnecessary,” said Jim Powell.
However, the majority of those who spoke Thursday were supportive of keeping the resolution, saying rescinding it would be giving in to “bullying” from Knudsen’s office.
“I think if you think you're going to negotiate with them after rescinding the resolution and come up with something they will agree with, you're being naive,” said Phil Robison. “There is nothing here that they want to agree with.”
The commenters included Maria Pacheco, the wife of Christopher Martinez – the man whose arrest and detention for immigration violations sparked the debate that led to this resolution being adopted. She said her children are worried about what will happen if the resolution is rescinded.
“They have this idea that the ICE officers are going to be coming in, and they're terrified,” Pacheco said. “They're terrified already of the police, and that is something that scares me.”
Commissioner Melinda Reed, the one member who voted against rescinding the resolution, proposed adopting amendments to the resolution now to clarify that it wasn’t intended to stop cooperation with federal authorities when it’s legally required. She argued the city could have coped with the financial threats and did not have to take this step.
“My fear is that if we rescind, how do we know we can get it back?” she said. “Once it's gone, it's gone.”
Commissioner Ben Rigby said he worried about the risks if they didn’t vote to rescind, and that he believed there was still a chance to make progress in dealing with Knudsen’s office.
“Our next statement should be like this: Helena is willing to come to the table with the state in good faith, and work towards a lawful compromise,” he said. “If there's room for that, I am going to take it. If there is not, I believe that will speak for itself.”
A few supporters of the resolution still in the audience after the commission’s decision heckled the members, cursing at them and calling them cowards. Dean called a recess after the disruption, with commissioners completing their meeting about 10 minutes later.
The commission called on their attorneys to provide an update on their discussions with the attorney general’s office within 30 days.
