Fridley Mayor David Ostwald sent a letter to multiple state and federal officials calling for a meeting with the City Council to address what he described as a crisis in the community related to federal immigration enforcement.
The letter followed a City Council meeting Jan. 26, during which residents spoke about heightened immigration enforcement activity in the city. A summary of that testimony was included with the letter.
Ostwald said in a Facebook post that many of the actions residents requested fell outside the city’s jurisdiction, but that he relayed those concerns to the appropriate authorities.
“Your testimony summary is included so that officials can read your firsthand experiences and review the demands these representatives have the power to act on,” Ostwald said.
The letter, sent Jan. 29, was addressed to U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, state Reps. Erin Koegel and Sandra Feist, state Sen. Mary Kunesh, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Secretary of State Steve Simon and Elections Director Paul Linell.
In the letter, Ostwald wrote that while the city does not control immigration enforcement, officials are seeing consequences that include families staying inside their homes, children afraid to attend school, businesses losing customers and residents who do not believe calling 911 will help.
“It is imperative that state and federal leaders with influence and authority over immigration policy immediately convene a joint federal-state-local dialogue to identify a constructive path forward,” Ostwald wrote. “Municipal government cannot solve a federal problem, but it can inform those in power of the harmful effects immigration enforcement has on our city.”