July 27, 2018
Public Letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser
We [1] request a response from Mayor Bowser by this Friday, July 27, to let us know the steps she has taken to intervene with ICE to seek the release of all detained DC residents. We also request a meeting next week with Mayor Bowser to discuss action that must be taken to make DC a true “sanctuary city.”
July 24, 2018
Mayor Muriel Bowser 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004
Dear Mayor Bowser: In response to recent raids conducted by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in DC, we ask that you: 1) intervene with ICE officials this week to seek the release of all DC residents detained by ICE, and 2) attend a meeting next week to discuss action to make DC a true “sanctuary city” for all of its residents. We request a response by Friday, July 27 to let us know the steps you have taken to intervene with ICE. We are aware of at least five confirmedICE raids in DC during the week of July 8 that ledto the detention of 10-20 individuals. We have been in touch with family members of those who were detained. Some of them came to DC to escape death threats, while others fled poverty. None deserve to be torn from their families and the DC community.
As our mayor, we are calling on you to publicly demand this week that ICE release all detained DC residents.Specifically, we ask that you contact the Fairfax ICE Field Office Director and other ICE officials this week to ask for the release of all DC residents. This request is urgent, given that some of the detained DC residents could face threat of deportation in the coming days.
We also request a public community meeting with you next week to discuss action that must be taken to make DC a true “sanctuary city.”We have been alarmed to hear credible reports that DC police collaborated with ICE officials in at least one of the recent raids. This is not the first such report of MPD-ICE collaboration, which we have asked Attorney General Karl Racine to investigate. In addition, we are very concerned that the DC Department of Corrections has a standing practice of honoring ICE notification requests, assisting ICE’s detention of DC residents. For DC to be a true “sanctuary city,” we need a policy that severs allties between DC officials and ICE, with consequences for city employees who violate the policy. We wish to discuss with you how we can achieve such changes to protect all DC residents. We cannot sit idly by while our immigrant friends, colleagues, family members, and neighbors are terrorized by ICE. We ask that you work with us and the many DC residents alarmed by the recent ICE raids in standing up for DC’s immigrant communities. Doing so is one essential step toward making DC a sanctuary city in which all residents can live free of discrimination, oppression, and fear.
We look forward to hearing from you by Friday, July 27 on the steps you have taken to intervene with ICE officials to seek the release of DC residents.
Sincerely [1]:
DMV Sanctuary Congregation Network Many Languages One Voice – Youth Action Team Restaurant Opportunities Center of Washington DC Sanctuary DMV Trabajadores Unidos de Washington DC UndocuBlack Network