Blaine County cities pass act to prevent law enforcement from asking for immigration documents - KMVT

BLAINE COUNTY, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The City of Ketchum joined the City of Hailey recently in passing a safe communities resolution.

The purpose is to prevent city police and staff from requesting documents regarding someone’s immigration status, and from using city funds.

“Something shown time and time again by a prolific amount of national research (is) that crime goes unreported under immigration enforcement fears,” said Blaine County resident Luis Alberto Lecanda.

The resolution also cites the enforcement of immigration laws as falling exclusively within the authority of the federal government. Blaine County resident Herbert Romero says some Hispanics have a distrust of law enforcement because of their native countries and what they see on the news.

“And you see in the border, the governors, the mayors, hand in hand with the border patrol, but at the same time with regular law enforcement. Families connect that,” said Romero.

Bellevue also passed a resolution with overwhelming support. Mayor Ned Burns says it is important to him and the Marshal’s office that residents report crimes when they occur, regardless of their status.

“Families that were subjected to horrific levels of domestic violence because they were afraid to call the police on their abuser and that is something that is really chilling,” said Burns.

JJ Saldana of the Idaho Hispanic Commission wants to see other cities pass similar resolutions, but some might be afraid of how they will be perceived.

“I have worked with (the) Ada County Sheriff’s Office and Boise P.D., and they seem to be saying the same things as this resolution is, but they don’t have it down as a resolution,” said Saldana.

Romero attributes Blaine County’s success to its strong Latino leadership. “We have different Latinos, Latinas doing their part like never before,” he said.

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source: https://www.kmvt.com/2021/12/17/blaine-county-cities-pass-act-prevent-law-enforcement-asking-immigration-documents/

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