City council rejects anti-287(g) resolution to bar ICE deals

And I would say, not that it needs to be a debate tonight, but I would ask legal to look into what would it look like as we lobby our federal delegation to have an effort to abolish 287G agreements. So I didn't want to say this, but because it keeps getting repeated that we don't have 287G agreements. That does not mean that we, I mean, we've sat in meetings here where we've had to ask if there are 287G agreements embedded even within language of grants from Wichita Police Department. And I've sat here just as everybody else when we saw Jason Cooley have to go back and research whether or not it was. So the reality is this. We don't have them right now. We need to be proactive and not reactive. And again, Southwest Kansas is the litmus test. They did nothing to deserve what happened to those residents. They did nothing. They modeled what we hear tonight. Keep your head down and be quiet, which is no way to live, by the way, and it has major consequences on the quality of life of people who live in our community. And telling people to keep their head down and to be quiet and be a good boy or a good girl is not the way that we should expect citizens to roam the streets of Wichita. That is not healthy. It is not appropriate to even suggest that it is okay, and that's what we have. We have residents who are living like that, and what a privilege it is for some of us to be able to direct people to live that way. It is not okay. And for us to even say that, think about the privilege one must have, me included, to say just stay quiet and all will be well. My ancestors lived like that, and I can tell you it didn't work out well for a lot of them. So it's not an acceptable answer. Let's be proactive. And what would the community want? The community wanted no 287G agreement. The community wanted a mattering and belonging committee, and I've still not heard anybody commit to that. So is it the 287G agreement, or is it diversity, equity, and inclusion? Council Member Johnson. I think, Councilman Shepard, I agree with what you say. But your key word there was citizens should not live like that. I agree. But you did say citizens. Correct the record. Any human being, my faith is my anchor. But non-citizens. When you were hungry, I fed you. You were thirsty, I gave you something to drink. You were a stranger, I welcomed you in. Hebrew and Greek language for the word stranger is immigrant. It is immigrant. So don't mix my words. I'm just repeating what you said. I'm just repeating what you said. So let me clarify. Now, it's immigrant, citizen, anybody should not live like that. And I am living the gospel. I am living that gospel. That is my work. That's what I do. I live that gospel. I raise $2.4 million a year so we can live that gospel. And people are going without groceries and food and safety and security and not going to receive health care or even dropping their kids off at school because they are fearful of this system. And we have a patient advocate that helps them with food and housing and rent assistance. We help with that also. Council Member Johnston, the fact that you're defending what you do says a lot to me. I'm just saying that a citizen and a non-citizen are two different standards. And we have to be... My neighbor is my neighbor. The non-citizens just want to work and feed their families. It is. They don't want to protest. There's very few that want to protest. JV, you are speaking to people tonight who have been touched by that system. And I'm sorry, my friend. We can't speak for folks who we've not lived their life. Are there any undocumented in here now? To my point. That's to my point. So citizens here are come out. They're not afraid to speak out. Undocumented people that I work with every day are afraid to speak out. So, the mayor with the motion to adjourn the meeting is saying.