The Pasadena City Council on Monday, Feb. 23, unanimously approved a resolution that included a dozen potential actions the city could take to address the presence of federal immigration agents in the city.
Mayor Victor Gordo and Councilmember Rick Cole drafted the resolution, titled “Pasadena City Council actions to mitigate the impacts of federal civil immigration enforcement overreach on city resources, property, and community safety.”
The resolution included proposed limits on the use of city property by federal immigration enforcement, documenting ICE activity in the city, requiring city contract bidders disclose agreements with the Department of Homeland Security and establishing certified monitoring protections.
According to the resolution, the city manager is directed to work with members of city staff and return to City Council within 30 days with administrative policy recommendations, draft ordinances or resolutions, legal analysis of proposed actions and implementation timelines.
During public comment, residents criticized the Pasadena Police Department for not doing enough to protect the public and doing more to protect ICE agents. Several speakers pointed to the Jan. 7 arrest of Jose Madera, director of the Pasadena Community Job Center, as an example of PPD’s failures.
Pasadena Police Department arrested Madera who was observing ICE agents as they moved through the city. The ICE vehicle Madera was following parked in front of the Pasadena Police Department.
Pasadena Police arrested Madera on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest or obstructing an officer from performing lawful duties. The city declined to file charges against Madera.
Speakers also took issue with one section of the resolution that proposed training and a possible certification process for legal observers akin to a press pass. Cole said the intention of that section of the resolution was to set up a dialogue between Pasadena Police and legal observers.
“I’m not sure we should be in any way in the business of regulating how the people choose to express their voice in public,” Councilmember Jason Lyon said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have descended upon Pasadena on multiple occasions in the last year. In June, a group of men were taken by agents at the corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue.
Pasadena subsequently joined a lawsuit against the federal government where the men taken were plaintiffs.
City officials have repeatedly stated that Pasadena Police does not assist federal agents with immigration enforcement, but that officers respond to provide traffic or crowd control and emergency assistance once an enforcement operation has started.
On Monday, City Council received an overview of how cities and law enforcement in other jurisdictions handle ICE presence in their local communities. The examples given were Chicago, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and Santa Clara County.
Vice Mayor Jess Rivas acknowledged that the city has a narrow space within which it can act in response to ICE activity.
“We really should be doing as much as we can and forcing and pushing the boundaries because, as everyone has made clear, our residents’ lives are on the line here,” Rivas said.
Monday’s meeting was streamed live on YouTube.