What Helena residents called for in over 2 hours of public comment on immigration resolution

As the hours ticked down to the Helena City Commission’s 4-1 vote to keep Helena police out of immigration enforcement, the line for public comment spilled out of the chambers and down the hall.

Chamber pews were packed with sign-holding audience members, with city staff and Helena police officers standing guard at entryways. In the hallway and down three flights of stairs, unseated attendees watched the meeting stream on their phones, echoing with the sounds of the overflow rooms’ projectors and the live chambers themselves. During comment both for and against the resolution, fellow attendees could be seen nodding in approval or rolling their eyes.

Though the more than 80 public commenters — most in person and a handful online — took different approaches to the discussion, most agreed on the sentiment that the resolution vote would be a pivotal moment for Helena police.

Calls for amendments

The meeting was held Monday, Jan. 26, six months after a Helena resident was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and just days after a Minneapolis man was killed by U.S. Border Patrol.

The City Commission’s resolution, which advised the Helena Police Department not to share sensitive information with federal agents or aid in immigration-related missions, had been a public demand for several months.

With that attention brought scrutiny. The large majority of the evening’s 70-plus pro-resolution commenters said it was a good start — but not strong enough.

"I think this is only the beginning, and we need something way stronger than this," one public commenter said — a sentiment shared by many who lent the Commission their opinion.

Citizens pushed for HPD to demand, not attempt, "to request the identification and unmasking” of Department of Homeland Security agents, as the resolution’s earlier language had put it.

Many worried that unidentified agents could open the door to impersonators. Across the nation, federal agents working immigration-related assignments have worn masks and taken off badges.

Other promoted edits asked HPD to document racial profiling and track data exchanges between local and federal officials, including an annual report.

The edits were proposed by activist organizations like Montana For Palestine and Waking Giant, commenter Montana For Palestine’s Lily Clarke said.

Most commenters pushed for the edits as a package deal.

“By passing the resolution with all three amendments, you will take the bold stance your citizens have asked you to, and as (Helena Police Chief Brett Petty) has shown, is willing to,” Clarke said, referencing HPD’s withdrawal from the Missouri River Drug Task Force when it enrolled U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Many public comments praised Petty and said the withdrawal showed HPD and the city were listening to citizens.

National headlines

Much of the conversation pointed to national headlines as well. Multiple commenters said they were horrified by the deaths of two Minneapolis civilians who were killed by immigration agents.

One immigrant commenter originally from Turkey said her accent used to bring welcoming curiosity from Helenans. Over the past few weeks, she said it felt like something had shifted. She said she was often asked if she was afraid of ICE.

When the chamber audience applauded, Mayor Emily Dean asked for public reaction to be held back to save time. Later, many comments would lead audience members to shake their raised palms, a visual replacement for applause.

Commenter Tim Matthews reflected on the detainment of a 5-year-old boy in Minneapolis and said it filled him "with rage and a profound sadness."

Opposition

Though the majority was in favor of the resolution, a handful of public commenters said they didn't "understand all the rationale."

Most people who spoke against the resolution said they supported strong immigration enforcement, saying the Trump administration's efforts were "cleaning up" people who did not enter the country legally and maintaining public safety.

"The terrorized cities are the ones where, unfortunately, the law enforcement ... is pitted against each other," one person said. "It's insanity."

Another commenter said that the majority of Montana voted for the Trump administration, and therefore supported his immigration crackdown.

In both Lewis and Clark County and Montana, Donald Trump took the presidential majority vote, but he won by slimmer margins on the local level, according to previous Independent Record reporting.

Video: Helenans protest ICE ahead of City Commission resolution discussion

Views on the Commission

While many public commenters were sympathetic to the position the Commission was in, facing a tough choice amid intense political fervor over the immigration issue, some asked commissioners to "have a spine."

"You chose and have been chosen to represent the people of Helena," Clarke said.

"You are in a hard position because you chose to be in a hard position," President of Montana Pride Kev Hamm said.

Other commenters praised the Commission for creating the resolution in the first place, saying Helena was protecting and listening to its constituents.

At the end of the meeting, the Helena City Commission voted 4-1 in favor of the resolution, edited to allow HPD officers to ask — at their own discretion — federal agents to identify themselves. The other proposed edits were turned down in a close vote.

City Commissioner Sean Logan was the lone vote against the overall resolution, stating he supported its spirit but felt the push to identify agents could invite clashes between law enforcement jurisdictions.

When the vote passed, audience members stood in loud applause. Though no attendees joined the final public comment at the end of the meeting, where people would traditionally speak on the outcome of a vote, cheering could be heard in the parking lot.