A coalition of immigrant advocates is ramping up pressure on Syracuse Common Councilors to prohibit contracts with companies that profit from federal immigration enforcement. Council has yet to put such a resolution up for consideration.
At least five groups that support immigrants and refugees are concerned license plate and other data from companies doing business with the city could lead to detention or deportation. Jillian Moczara is co-chair of the Syracuse International Solidarity Committee. She read from the letter they sent councilors in early January.
“The resolution before you represents a practical and principled step towards protecting due process and strengthening community trust," she recited. "It ensures that public dollars and the moral authority of our city are never used to support companies that profit from or participate in practices that deny people their fundamental rights.”
She said contracts with Axon and Flock among others could include sharing personal information with immigration officials. Fellow solidarity coalition co-chair Genevieve Garcia Kendrick questioned the council’s delay.
“We have put everything that we need to put into the resolution to ensure that it is a legal responsibility to maintain the contracts that we have, that we are not breaking anything indiscriminately that we are not stopping contracts," she said. "We are asking them to be phased out and to not enter into new ones.”
Councilor Chol Majok said it's not quite that easy.
“Those details need to be settled legally and be vetted well, because any rash action may backfire on city business. So we are not stalling at all," he said. "We share the same sentiment that these neighbors, which are immigrant neighbors and new American neighbors, are to be protected.”
Majok said the proposed resolution clearly has interest among councilors. But he said it may need to undergo changes for practical and legal reasons. Council President Rita Paniagua agreed.
“I don't know that we can dissolve all kinds of contracts that have been standing for, who knows, more than a few years," she said. "But those are things that that city is definitely looking into.”
Paniagua said if the resolution clears legal hurdles, any councilor can bring it forward for consideration. That would trigger committee meetings and public hearings.
