Making Sudbury A Sanctuary Town: Group Submits Warrant Article

SUDBURY, MA—A group of Sudbury residents has submitted an article for the Annual Town Meeting warrant to make Sudbury a “welcoming or sanctuary community” after working with the Sudbury Police Department on formal policies on the treatment of undocumented immigrants.

According to an announcement, the Sudbury Welcoming Town Committee’s resolution is to “ensure that Sudbury is a safe and welcoming community for all individuals who visit, work, or live here.”

The group said in a release that the warrant article affirms Sudbury’s values of respect for diversity and fair and respectful treatment of all and asks Town Meeting to join with other towns and cities in Massachusetts that have chosen to become welcoming communities.

Included in the article is the Sudbury Police Department Policy on the Treatment of Undocumented Immigrants. The committee worked with Sudbury Police Chief Scott Nix to develop these written policies. The article asks Town Meeting to support the policies and to encourage other town departments to adopt similar policies. The policies specifically state that the enforcement of federal civil immigration laws is “the sole responsibility of the federal government, not the Sudbury Police Department.”

The policies also state that Sudbury Police officers will not detain people solely on the basis of their immigration status without a court order, and will not inquire about immigration status unless necessary in a criminal investigation, to protect an individual’s safety or to keep the peace.

“Nothing in our warrant article hampers the police in investigating crime, violates any federal or state law, or prevents federal immigration agents from conducting immigration enforcement,” said Fred Taylor, chair of the Sudbury Welcoming Town Committee, in the release.“Adopting these policies and affirming that Sudbury is a welcoming town actually keeps Sudbury safer by encouraging immigrants to report crimes and to work with the police."

Approximately 35 towns and cities across the state have adopted similar resolutions including Acton, Concord, Belmont and Newton.

The warrant article will be voted on at Sudbury’s Annual Town Meeting, which begins Monday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

Here is a copy of the Warrant Article:

A RESOLUTION to ensure that Sudbury is a safe and welcoming community for all individuals who visit, work, or live here.

WHEREAS: the Town of Sudbury has long valued diversity and the fair and respectful treatment of all.

WHEREAS: aligned with our country’s core values, our town government, the Town’s police department, and schools have always welcomed everyone regardless of their ethnicity, religion, race, or sexual preference.

WHEREAS: the Sudbury Police Department has established a Policy to protect the rights of undocumented immigrants and ensure their fair and just treatment.

WHEREAS: the trust undocumented immigrants have in our law enforcement personnel, town employees, and local medical and domestic violence agencies is paramount to their safety and well being and our Police Department’s ability to prevent and solve crime.

WHEREAS: a growing number of immigrants are being deported from our state and country solely because they are undocumented, thereby resulting in fear, broken families, and their return to dangerous places in the world.

WHEREAS: in growing numbers, cities and towns in our state and country have expressed their support of immigrants by becoming welcoming or sanctuary communities.

THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED: that Town Meeting expresses its solidarity with other towns and cities in Massachusetts and throughout the country that have chosen to become a welcoming or sanctuary community.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that Town Meeting affirms and supports the following Sudbury Police Department’s Policies on the Treatment of Undocumented Immigrants:

• The enforcement of the nation’s federal civil immigration laws is the sole responsibility of the federal government, not the Sudbury Police Department. No Sudbury police officer shall be appointed as an agent of any agency that would grant them the powers duly authorized under the federal civil immigration laws.

• No police officer of Sudbury shall arrest, detain, or continue to detain or prolong an individual’s detention based solely on their immigration status unless such detainer or document is accompanied by a court order from a court of competent jurisdiction or duly authorized judicial warrant.

• No police officer of Sudbury shall inquire about the immigration status of an individual, including but not limited to, a crime victim, a witness, or a person who calls or approaches the police, or any other member of the public with whom the police officer has contact, unless necessary to facilitate a criminal investigation, protect the personal safety of an individual or keep the peace.

• A person’s immigration status shall not affect their ability to file a police report or otherwise benefit from police services from the Town of Sudbury.

• The Sudbury Police Department will not keep a local index or list of persons suspected of being aliens or deportable aliens.

• No Sudbury police officer shall voluntarily respond to any ICE notification requests regarding civil immigration violations by providing any federal agent or agency information about an individual’s incarceration status, hearing information, length of detention home address, or personal information.

• The Sudbury Police Department may provide information regarding citizenship or immigration status in accordance with state or federal law, including, but not limited to, 8 U.S.C, § 1373. Nothing in this Policy shall prohibit or restrain any Sudbury law enforcement officer from sending to, or receiving from, any local, state, or federal agency, information regarding citizenship or immigration status, consistent with 8 U.S.C. § 1373 or an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.

• No police officer of Sudbury or Sudbury Police Department employee shall allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs Border Protection (CBP) agents investigating a civil immigration violation access to municipal facilities or a person in custody for investigative interviews or investigative purposes unless acting under a court order from a court of competent jurisdiction, a duly authorized warrant, or other legitimate law enforcement purpose that is not related solely to the enforcement of a civil immigration violation.

• The Sudbury Police Department will continue to investigate reports of hate crimes, criminal discrimination, and criminal harassment of persons based upon their protected status, including, but not limited to, religion, race, ethnicity or national origin without regard to the person’s known or suspected immigration status within the United States.

• No Sudbury police officer shall participate directly in an ICE tactical operation relative to the enforcement of civil immigration laws. The Sudbury Police Departments role, if any, in such operations is strictly safety related and peacekeeping.

• Nothing shall prevent an officer or employee from lawfully discharging his or her duties in compliance with and in response to a court order from a court of competent jurisdiction, lawfully issued judicial warrant, judicial subpoena, or judicial detainer or acting when necessary to protect public or personal safety.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that Town Meeting encourages all Town Departments to enact similar policies in regards to the Treatment of Undocumented Immigrants.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Town rejects the word “illegal” and “alien” to describe any human being.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Town upholds and reasserts its belief in basic human rights and the dignity of every human being.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Town Clerk shall forward a copy of this resolution on behalf of the Town of Sudbury to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, the Governor of Massachusetts, and to the President of the United States.

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