Order bars ICE from using Providence city facilities 

By Steve Klamkin Latino Public Radio 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be barred from using Providence city property or facilities to stage or conduct enforcement actions, under an executive order signed Tuesday by Mayor Brett Smiley. 

The order directs Providence Police to not act as immigration officers, not to ask individuals about their immigration status. City departments are directed to not proactively collaborate with ICE. 

Pointing to ICE actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota and other cities, Smiley, a Democrat cited what he called the “fear and uncertainty” resulting from ICE agents “threatening immigrant communities.” 

“Across the nation, we are seeing the federal government continue to create fear and uncertainty. But in Providence, we are choosing a different path, a path that is rooted in trust, inclusion and community safety.

“Our top priority is and will remain to be a safe and dignified place for all residents,” Smiley said. “Our Providence police officers are not and will not be immigration enforcement officers.” 

More than 30 community leaders, including several city council members, clergy and others stood behind Smiley as he announced the order. 

“I think there’s a broad consensus that we need to prioritize how we treat each other with humanity and with compassion. And, what we’re seeing right now in terms of ICE enforcement is really the opposite of that,” said Jeremy Langill, Executive Minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches.

“It does not appear to me from what I’ve seen that the ICE agents in Minneapolis are law abiding,” Smiley said in response to a question from Latino Public Radio. 

“When I see a federal agent crack a windshield and drag someone out from there… when I see a video of somebody, a federal agent, it appears that their only probable cause they have for an intervention is that an individual had an accent… when I see actions like that I see the antithesis of our police department. I see the exact opposite of what we train in the academy. 

“I’m not a lawyer or a judge and so it’s not exactly my decision to determine what is lawful and unlawful but it appears to me to be unlawful. It certainly appears to me to be reckless and it appears to be the exact opposite of how we seek and attempt to keep the community safe here in Providence,” Smiley said.