Minneapolis and Saint Paul Police Chiefs respond to proposed
Minnesota legislation for Arizona-style immigration law
As the police chiefs for Minnesota?' two largest cities, we oppose
HF3830, the Arizona-style legislation recently introduced in the
Minnesota House of Representatives that pushes local law enforcement
officers to the front line on matters of immigration.
Community policing is a core value and clear priority in the cities
we serve. It is through partnership with people and communities that
our cities are made safer, because partnership builds trust and
communication. Our officers have worked hard to build relationships
of trust with our residents, especially new Americans, and these
partnerships have helped us bring down crime in both Minneapolis and
Saint Paul over the past several years.
We believe that mobilizing local police to serve as primary
enforcers of federal immigration laws will throw up barriers of
mistrust and cause a chilling effect in immigrant communities,
impairing our ability to build partnerships and engage in
problem-solving that improves the safety of all members of the
community. The culture of fear that this bill will instill in
immigrant communities will keep victims of crime and people with
information about crime from coming forward, and that will endanger
all residents.
It is a mistake for our state to try to fix our nation's immigration
system. We urge Minnesota lawmakers and the people of our state to
join with us in denouncing HF3830. We believe this bill runs
contrary to the values of community policing and problem-solving
that the people we serve have rightly demanded and it will make our
communities less safe.
Tim Dolan John M. Harrington
Thomas Smith
Chief of Police Chief of Police
Chief of Police Designee
City of Minneapolis City of Saint Paul
City of Saint Paul
Sgt Jesse Garcia III Minneapolis Police Department Public Information Officer
(cellular) 612-919-9023
jesse.garcia@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
