Downey declines to join federal immigration audit
Mayor Hector Sosa, City Manager Roger Bradly and Councilwoman Claudia M. Frometa listed as Councilman Horacio Ortiz speak at Tuesday’s city council meeting. (Photo by Vince Medina)
Discussions to join a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) to audit federal immigration enforcement actions were tabled by the Downey City Council on Tuesday.
Council members decided not to take action, citing concerns over costs, lack of participation from other cities, and a preference for directing resources toward local resident support.
City Manager Roger Bradley provided an overview, explaining that the JPA was initiated by the City of Lynwood and extended to members of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, which includes Downey.
The authority would audit federal immigration raids for legal compliance, pursue litigation in cases of constitutional or due process violations and advocate for national immigration reform.
Participating cities are requested to contribute $100,000 each from general fund reserves to establish a $1 million legal and audit defense fund. Bradley noted that the JPA’s governance structure, bylaws and rules are still under development, with a timeline of six months for formation and potential operations within a year.
He added that no other cities have committed yet, though some are considering it and the ongoing costs remain undefined.
Mayor Pro Tem Dorothy Pemberton expressed reservations about interest from other cities and confirmed the funding would draw from reserves, as no budgeted allocation exists.
She also argued that the city of Downey has done everything it can when dealing with the federal government.
“We have helped out recently with food insecurities, $15,000 to help our families in our area, we’ve had our webinars and so we’ve done a resolution in stating how the city feels about these raids - we’ve made that publicly known and we also had requested that we write our DC legislators for immigration reform,” said Pemberton.
The city council passed a resolution on July 8 expressing its disdain for how ICE is conducting its operations in Downey.
The resolution acknowledges that the agency’s “aggressive tactics“ have disrupted public safety and created a sense of fear in the local immigrant communities. They shared that they were aware of ICE using face coverings, plain clothes attire, unmarked vehicles, and refusing to identify themselves to the public.
Through the resolution, the Council is instructing elected representatives at the federal level to demand that ICE and all immigration enforcement officers adhere to the process and cease the use of face coverings, plainclothes attire, identity concealment, and unmarked cars.
City staff are also directed to maintain and update the “Know Your Rights” page on the city’s website, which provides links to immigration resources and includes frequently asked questions and answers about immigration enforcement.
However, the resolution has no legal authority, meaning it is not enforceable by law.
Council member Horacio Ortiz said that the city should use funds directly for affected Downey residents while it awaits data on local impacts from recent ICE raids.
“I would prefer, once we get that information, that I would prefer to use this money directly to our residents and help them directly,” said Ortiz. “I think that joining something that right now doesn’t have other cities involved, I would prefer using this money for our residents directly, hopefully, when we get those numbers, that we can use it to help them out.”
No motion was made, and the item was tabled without action.