DHS says Fresno officials lack standing to restrict ICE, calls them ‘sanctuary politicians’

The Department of Homeland Security is pushing back on a recently established city of Fresno resolution that aims to restrict the use of city property for immigration enforcement, saying the city lacks legal standing to enforce it.

In an email statement to The Bee, spokesperson Jason B. Sweeney said that DHS responds to official correspondence only through “official channels.”

“ICE enforces the law 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in all 50 states, including in California,” Sweeney said. “No sanctuary politicians are going to stop that.”

Councilmembers Annalisa Perea and Nelson Esparza brought the resolution forward at Thursday’s council meeting in response to a recent surge of ICE arrests across the region. The resolution prohibits any city department, employee, or official from allowing city property, like municipal offices, civic centers, public parks, or libraries, to be used for staging any civil immigration enforcement operation. That includes for surveillance, temporarily detaining individuals, or as operational bases.

“ICE does NOT need to receive permission from local authorities to enforce federal immigration laws,” Sweeney wrote in the statement.

He pointed to Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law overrides state law and local ordinances, saying immigration is a “clear federal responsibility.”

Perea says DHS is responding to an argument the city never made

Perea told The Bee on Friday that DHS is responding to an argument the city council never made. She said that the resolution does not prevent federal immigration authorities from enforcing the law, nor does it claim that DHS needs the city’s permission to do so.

Instead, under the resolution, she said Fresno will not “voluntarily” make its public facilities available for federal immigration enforcement.

“We have both the authority and the responsibility to establish how city resources are used, consistent with the law,” Perea said. “Our residents deserve to access public spaces and city services without fear. I stand firmly behind our decision because protecting public trust, respecting the law, and standing up for our community are not mutually exclusive.”

At Thursday’s meeting, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said that he had a phone call with the DHS on Tuesday to convey his concerns over tactics utilized by ICE, hoping that the message would get to Trump.

In a statement to The Bee in response to the comments from DHS on Friday, Dyer said he respects the Supremacy Clause and the responsibility DHS has to enforce immigration laws.

“They have done an incredible job of securing our borders,” Dyer said. “However, their enforcement strategies and tactics leave much to be desired.”

He said DHS should focus their enforcement efforts on violent criminals rather than “law-abiding, hardworking immigrant families.”

“If DHS did, local governments would be much more willing to support their efforts,” Dyer said.

Over a dozen people spoke out to urge support for the policy Thursday, including Sukaina Hussain, the deputy executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. She emphasized the “great fear” immigrant families are feeling in Fresno to the council during public comment, and how many are staying away from public spaces like parks.

“When we see in cities across California, ICE setting up operations, doing staging, doing surveillance, conducting operations out of public spaces, then those public spaces become places of fear, instead of places of belonging and where families should gather,” Hussain said.

The resolution passed 6-1 on the consent calendar Thursday. It follows a recent vote by the council to reestablish a $1 million Immigrant Legal Defense Fund to assist residents facing deportation, championed by councilmember Miguel Arias.

A few other California cities have taken similar steps to restrict ICE enforcement on city-owned property. Los Angeles and Santa Ana have advanced policies prohibiting city employees from taking second jobs with federal immigration enforcement agencies this year.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences,” Sweeney said. “Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”

Councilmembers Esparza and Arias did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Bee.