Mpls. moves along measures condemning Trump's orders on immigration, refugees

Updated: 5:03 p.m. | Posted: 4:12 p.m.

A Minneapolis City Council committee on Tuesday moved forward a resolution condemning President Trump's executive orders on refugees and immigration, as well as a proposal directing city staff to recommend ways for the city to resist the president's orders.

The city's Intergovernmental Relations Committee unanimously approved both the resolution and the staff directive following presentations from speakers representing community organizations and attorneys opposed to the executive orders.

Both the resolution and the staff directive are expected to get a final hearing before the full Minneapolis City Council on Friday.

The proposals are partly an attempt to connect Minneapolis to other like-minded communities that oppose the orders, said council member Elizabeth Glidden.

"It's going to take not just these legal strategies, or resolutions that are passed by city governments and state governments, but a movement of people," Glidden said. "Government is never at the front of that, government is following the lead of people."

The resolution condemns three executive orders signed by Trump late last month that affect immigrants and refugees, including an order signed on Jan. 25 that called for construction of a wall on the nation's southern border.

Another order that same day would cut off federal funding for so-called "sanctuary cities," which may include both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Yet another executive order signed Jan. 27 banned immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and temporarily halted refugee admission.

The city's resolution calls the executive orders "an open act of discrimination against Muslims, as a violation of the United States Constitution, and as an illegal act in violation of federal laws and directives."

The resolution also describes the executive order about so-called sanctuary cities as "unconstitutional attempts to commandeer local resources and coerce the City to enforce federal administration policy related to immigration laws."

The staff directive that also moved forward on Tuesday was introduced by Council Member Alondra Cano, who said Minneapolis will be harmed if these executive orders are enforced.

"We will fall to our knees because all of the immigrant entrepreneurs that will be gone that currently have businesses in our commercial corridors, the schools that remain open because of our immigrant kids and our immigrant population," Cano said. "All of that might be gone."

Under the proposal, staff would establish a "sanctuary city task force" that would come up with recommendations to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation and Muslims and others from hate crimes.

It would also order staff to continue to explore creation of an immigration legal defense fund and the city attorney to research "potential litigation and defense strategies to protect the rights of the City of Minneapolis and its residents."

Speaking before the vote on the resolution, Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the council that he's concerned about the increase in anti-Islamic organizing in the country.

"We are at a moment in history where leadership is required, and the city of Minneapolis is not just leading the city of Minneapolis, but an entire nation," Hussein said. "So, let's be proactive, and not just reactive."

The executive order banning refugees from seven countries, including Somalia, was temporarily halted by order of a federal judge after a lawsuit was filed by attorneys general in Washington state and Minnesota. Arguments were expected to be heard in that case on Tuesday evening.