Colorado Springs city council has approved a resolution that reiterates the city's support for law enforcement and reaffirms that it is not a so-called sanctuary city.
It also promises that taxpayer funds will not be used on the "immigration crisis."
Newly elected councilor Roland Rainey, Jr., who represents the city's 6th District in the east, introduced the resolution because he wants the city to be the safest in the nation.
“We want safer schools, we want safer parks. We want a safe city that attracts great business to come to our city,” said Rainey. “So what does that mean for us to be the safest city in America? We have to start with a dialogue to determine firmly who we are.”
While there is no legal definition for a sanctuary city or state, it's generally accepted to mean that a city is welcoming to and protective of new immigrants who may be in the United States unlawfully.
It’s the third time the council has approved a resolution regarding this issue in the last year and a half. The first two approvals occurred last year.
Tuesday's resolution passed 7-2, with councilors Nancy Henjum and newcomer Kimberly Gold voting against it. Gold represents the city's 4th District, on the southeastern side of the city. Henjum, newly re-elected, represents the central District 5.
“What are we doing up here? Are we doing public service? Are we doing political theater?" Gold asked. "Because when we have conversations like this, it feels a whole lot like political theater, political pageantry over public service,” said Gold.
Newly elected councilor Tom Bailey from the city's northern District 2 supported it. "People who infer certain things from the wording, that's part of the problem," he said. "But support for law enforcement is not a free pass for law enforcement. Support for law enforcement is: provide the resources, provide the oversight to make sure that the rule of law is something that we support in this town."
The Colorado Springs Police Department was among the agencies that participated in a raid led by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency on an "underground nightclub" last month. In a statement at the time, CSPD Chief Adrian Vasquez said the operation was the result of an investigation into criminal activity.
"CSPD is aware that our federal partners also detained multiple people for suspected immigration violations during the operation," he said. "CSPD is not authorized to conduct immigration enforcement under Colorado law, and our participation in this operation was solely to address criminal violations affecting the safety of our community."
This resolution was approved during council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, May 13.
