A protest in front of the Wilson Building in January. (Photo by Alex Edelman)

After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 14 people in Washington D.C. for violating immigration laws last week, advocates are planning to protest at ICE headquarters and the seat of District government.

During what it dubbed “Operation Safe City” last week, ICE said it focused its nearly 500 arrests on sanctuary cities—jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with federal deportation efforts, like the District.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration,” said ICE Acting Director Tom Homan in a release. “As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.”

Despite the current administration’s argument that sanctuary cities are less safe, data indicates that the opposite is true: such jurisdictions have much lower rates of crime, including homicides, than comparable locales without those policies in place.

While ICE says it prioritized people with criminal convictions and pending charges during Operation Safe City, including an El Salvadorian man in D.C. who “entered the country illegally and who has previous convictions for possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition,” local advocates say that the operation also targeted law-abiding residents.

“One of them is a young person in Columbia Heights,” says Sapna Pandya, the executive director of Many Languages One Voice, a local immigrants rights group. “This is the first large-scale raid that we know of that happened inside D.C. borders.”

ICE spokesperson Carissa Cutrell declined to confirm or deny the arrest, saying that the agency is “not permitted to release any information on minors.” She said that individuals arrested in D.C. who remain in ICE custody are being held at the Farmville Detention Center, about 70 miles southwest of Richmond, Va.

Many Languages One Voice, along with groups like Detention Watch, DMV Sanctuary Congregation Network, and others, plans to gather in front of ICE headquarters in Southwest on Wednesday afternoon, and then march a mile down to the John Wilson Building, where the city government works, to protest what it deems as insufficient action from the District.

This echoes a state of affairs that has existed since Donald Trump’s election—as they protest federal actions, many local immigration advocates also criticize a response from Mayor Muriel Bowser that they say is more talk than action.

D.C. has about 70,000 immigrants, and roughly 25,000 are undocumented.

A week after Election Day, Bowser affirmed D.C.’s commitment to being a sanctuary city “because we know that our neighborhoods are safer and stronger when no one is afraid to call on our government for help, and when our police can focus on protecting and serving.” The following day, protesters confronted her and, in a heated exchange, demanded that she do more.

There’s no one definition for “sanctuary city,” though ICE’s criteria is based on whether local authorities detain immigrants on behalf of the federal authorities. D.C. policy dating back to 1984 prohibits D.C. police from asking about immigration status during routine stops and limits local cooperation with federal authorities over deportation requests (Vincent Gray reaffirmed the city’s commitment to that policy in 2011).

After Trump made good on his promise to target sanctuary cities by signing an executive order that would withhold federal funding from cities that don’t help his administration round up and deport people, Bowser again announced that “The District is and will continue to be a sanctuary city.” Federal judges have blocked that executive order from being implemented, a decision that the Department of Justice has appealed.

Bowser’s administration established a $500,000 grant to provide legal services to D.C. immigrants, which was renewed for a second year this summer.

The demands of activists protesting in front of ICE and the Wilson Building today include the passage of the Access to Justice For Immigrants Amendment Act of 2017, which would make that grant program a permanent line in the city budget. The legislation saw a public hearing in July and remains under council review.

“We’re hoping, rather than each time advocate to put [the funding in the budget], to make it be a more permanent fund so it is not incumbent on whoever the executive is,” says Pandya of Many Languages One Voice.

But while that is more focused on the D.C. Council, most of the demands are directed at Bowser.

“She needs to and has not yet publicly denounced Operation Safe City,” says Pandya. “And demand that all 14 of these individuals are released from ICE custody.”

So far, the only D.C. politician to speak out on the ICE operation is At-large Councilmember David Grosso, who on Tuesday called it an “assault on our communities” and “an unacceptable attempt, motivated by fear and xenophobia, to solve the larger question of immigration in our country without having to do any of the hard work that is required of elected leaders.”

Following the publication of this story, Susana Castillo, a spokesperson for Bowser, said in a statement that, “The Bowser Administration shares the concerns about the recent ICE raids. There is a lot we do not know about ICE’s actions, but what we do know is we are a sanctuary city and that we will continue to do everything we can to protect and defend all residents.”

Protesters want to see the city’s policies for protecting immigrant data strengthened. For instance, ICE can still access local law enforcement databases. Additionally, D.C. will honor a detainer, meaning local law enforcement give ICE a heads up when a person is released from criminal custody, and at times keeping them in custody, per a report from the agency.

The city will comply with the detainer if ICE agrees to reimburse costs, and the person in question is convicted of a dangerous crime, a crime of violence within the past 10 years, or a homicide, or released in the past five years after having committed those crimes.

“There needs to be a firewall of information sharing between local and federal authorities,” says Pandya. She adds that other District agencies, like the Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Health and Human Services, and D.C. Public Schools, all have sensitive data and “we haven’t heard specifics on plan to protect that data. District residents would feel better knowing what, specifically, are you doing.”

Pandya adds that the mayor’s office rejected a formal request to meet with her group and other advocates, noting that Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, for instance, held a town hall in March to address community concerns.

Castillo confirms that Many Languages One Voice formally requested that the mayor attend an event, and she declined. The mayor “gets tons of events requests,” says Castillo. “It’s nothing against them. It’s a matter of how many events she can go to in one day.”

There are some critics of the strategy to target Bowser. “She gives us a lot. Why fight with her?” Yasmin Romero-Latin, an ANC commissioner in Mount Pleasant, said at a May Day rally where one of the most popular signs featured a photo of Mayor Muriel Bowser and President Donald Trump, with the text, “We need a mayor, not Trump’s apprentice.”

But Pandya says it’s important to hold the mayor’s feet to the fire. “I’ve been hearing that a lot that we should leave her alone because she’s a Democrat,” she says. “So what, we’re not holding Democrats accountable now?”

The Safety For All Rally begins at 4 p.m. today at ICE Headquarters (500 12th Street SW).

Previously:
Bowser Renews Grants That Provide Legal Help To D.C. Immigrants
ICE Arrests More Than 50 In D.C., Md., Va. As Part Of National Operation
Photos: May Day Protesters Call Bowser ‘Trump’s Apprentice’
As Fear Deepens, People Pack Forum On Immigrants’ Rights
Photos: Hundreds Rally At Wilson Building To Push D.C. Politicians For ‘More Than Lip Service’
D.C. Is Still A Sanctuary City, Mayor Bowser Says, Regardless Of Trump’s Threats
Bowser Announces $500,000 In Grants To Provide Legal Help To D.C. Immigrants
In Letters To Obama, Trump Urging DACA Protections, Bowser Is Conspicuously Absent
Video: Bowser Gets In Heated Confrontation With Protesters
Bowser Says D.C. Remains A Sanctuary City
Undocumented Immigrants Learn Their Rights Amid Increased Fears Of Deportation Raids

Updated with comment from Susana Castillo, a spokesperson for Mayor Bowser.