Helena City Commission takes back immigration enforcement amid state pressure

HELENA, Mont. – The Helen City Commission voted to rescind its policy limiting compliance with immigration enforcement during a late night meeting on Thursday.

City leaders said threats from state leadership made it better to rescind the law and reinstate an amended version later on, rather than lose out on state money, contracts and aid.

The 4-1 vote happened late Thursday night after hours of testimony in a public meeting featuring the City Commission, an outside counsel and a large audience of community members.

The resolution in question was passed in Jan., 2026. It encouraged the City of Helena and the Helena Police Department to refuse to share collected immigration information with federal agents, with exceptions during receipt of a valid court order.

In February, Governor Greg Gianforte announced an investigation into local “sanctuary city” laws.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen, while speaking at Gianforte’s announcement, said the City of Helena’s resolution violated Montana’s 2021 House Bill 200, which prohibits state agencies or local governments from enacting laws against federal immigration enforcement.

Knudsen said if violations with state law were found, the local government could be fined up to $10,000 every five days without compliance. Additionally, the local government would be at risk of losing state funding and contracts.

After the resolution was rescinded in the Thursday night meeting, Gianforte released a statement on Facebook applauding the decision.

“In Montana, we banned sanctuary cities to keep our communities safe. The City of Helena made the right decision to rescind its resolution and allow the Helena Police Department to continue its cooperation with federal immigration authorities,” he wrote.

Knudsen also released a statement applauding the decision to rescind the resolution and pledging to prosecute sanctuary cities.

“The commissioners made the right decision voting to keep the Helena community safe. This resolution should never have been passed in the first place. My office will continue to hold any jurisdictions in violation of Montana’s sanctuary city prohibition accountable,” he wrote.