The town of Falmouth took action this week to ban federal immigration and customs enforcement agents from entering town buildings.
The town’s select board unanimously voted on Monday to have its town counsel write a policy that would be similar to action taken in cities and towns across the country, including Boston, in the wake of the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies.
“It is very clear that what ICE is doing is unconstitutional. It’s destroying our local economy. More importantly, it is destroying lives,” select board member Jack Richardson said on Monday. “But it’s about how we protect the most vulnerable in our society right now, and I think that taking these steps toward actionable policies is the way to go at this time.”
Falmouth has held public discussions in the past on immigration enforcement where locals have voiced their concerns about ICE activity, and they’ve heard from immigrants who say they are living in fear with the new federal policy. The board has also worked to refine a statement addressing ICE operations. And they’ve faced pressure from local activists to be more proactive in its stance against the federal agency — a number of residents spoke to the issue before the board urging concrete action.
Monday’s vote comes after ICE agents fatally shot two Minneapolis residents earlier this year while conducting a targeted raid; and more recently, Vermont protestors clashed with ICE agents in South Burlington as the agency detained three individuals — the first major confrontation between the federal agency and protestors in the New England state.
Last month, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order banning federal immigration officials from detaining people on municipal property and from staging operations on city property.
Falmouth is also drafting a letter to send to elected federal officials calling for ICE agents to be held to similar standards as police in the local department.
“That they be clearly uniformed and identified, that they uphold constitutional rights, that they deescalate, that they have use of force guidelines — These are common sense measures that we expect of our Falmouth police,” select board member Heather Goldstone said on Monday.
The board also intends to hold further community discussions on immigration and customs enforcement.
