A stream of Valparaiso residents called on the Valparaiso City Council and Mayor Jon Costas Monday night to formally and publicly develop and announce policies for dealing with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement in advance of any potential dealings with the agency.
Citing the past year in America, particularly ICE activities in Minneapolis that have left two Americans dead, including the controversial killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday, people waited through a lengthy meeting to have their say during the public comment portion at the end.
Carolyn Rodea of Valpo Resistance spoke first, asking the body for a comprehensive plan to protect citizens’ 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendment rights.
“We are concerned about the health and safety of our sisters and brothers in Valparaiso and the future of our democracy,” Rodea said. She called on city leadership to: continue allowing peaceful assembly; preclude unreasonable searches and seizures and denial of due process; establish policies for police, schools, public works and libraries regarding ICE; to investigate what other communities are doing to protect their residents; and to use their platform to give comfort, reassurance and support to residents, regardless of immigration status.
“Will you allow ICE on city property?” she asked.
Valparaiso resident Kathy Watts had to compose herself before being able to speak. She tearfully asked those on the dais, “to clearly state what we stand for here in Valparaiso. Silence from local leadership sends a message, whether intended or not.”
Jacque Hilbrich, of Valparaiso, asked for clarity and formal safeguards regarding how city resources are used “in federal civil immigration enforcement.” She wanted to know if the city currently requires a warrant before releasing surveillance footage, and if not, if it would consider requiring one as a matter of procedure.
Not everyone who spoke was bothered by the ICE deployments.
“I used to be a Democrat,” said James Ferguson. “I can remember when Democrats used to rail against immigration. They would want to close the border and Democrats would want deportations.”
He was followed at the podium by Andrew Karr, who said, “I would simply like to remind the members of this council of their duty to faithfully represent the citizens of Valparaiso, Indiana, to look out for the best interests of the citizens . . .” He went on to stress the word citizens two more times before concluding, “Notice all the items I’ve listed exclude illegal aliens.”
It was a minority view, with the famous poem “First They Came” by Martin Niemoller, about the systematic rooting out of various groups – communists, socialists, trade unionists, Jews – during the Nazi regime and the silence of German intellectuals and everyday citizens, read aloud by one of the meeting attendees.
“In Minnesota, the police there went on retraining and they’re backing up their citizens and I’m asking you to do that too,” said another attendee.
JoAnn Mosby, of Valparaiso, said she hadn’t planned to speak, but felt compelled to tell the story of her late mother, who emigrated to the United States after World War II.
She said her mother, who had long, dark hair, was detained by Nazis as a 13-year-old schoolgirl and made to recite the rosary non-stop as she waited in a police station in Nazi-occupied Belgium for her mother to arrive with her birth certificate to prove she wasn’t Jewish.
“Please, Valparaiso City Council, stand up and tell us what you are going to do to keep us and human beings that reside here safe from this horror,” she begged.
After the last public comment, Costas made remarks.
“What happened in Minnesota – the death of Alex Pretti and Renee Good – is tragic. I think everybody in this room feels that way,” he said. “It is lamentable what is happening between the federal government and state and local governments there. That, to me, is tragic also.”
He went on to say that he and his colleagues are elected to focus on what they can do locally, pointing out that an effort of the last two decades has been the professionalizing of the Valparaiso Police, which can perhaps have the most impact on limiting tragedy.
He pointed out that Valparaiso is one of only 14 communities in the state with Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies accreditation. CALEA, a voluntary international accreditation, is considered the gold standard for public safety with a focus on professional standards, policy and accountability.
“There has essentially been negligible ICE presence in the city,” Costas continued. “We don’t anticipate the kind of activity we’ve seen elsewhere.”
Council Member Robert Cotton, D-2nd, countered, “We don’t fit the profile where those guys are going to be able to make a great big scene. With all due respect, Mayor, I think these people are looking for more than an attestation to the quality of our police.”
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
