BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 Bakersfield city officials are set to discuss two ways the city could help provide transparency and better protect immigrants from federal immigration agents, including a potential TRUTH Act community forum and a “sanctuary city” policy.<\/p>\n
Six public speakers at the City Council meeting Wednesday asked city leaders to protect immigrants in the community. Some asked the Council to pass an ordinance declaring Bakersfield a sanctuary city and protect undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n
Manuel Ramirez, a lifelong Bakersfield resident, also requested a TRUTH Act forum to provide transparency on the city’s past and future interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Watch ‘After Sunrise’ on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The TRUTH Act requires local governing bodies that have given ICE access to individuals to hold a community forum.<\/p>\n Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur said the immigration enforcement and detention facilities are cruel and inhumane, referencing the ICE presence in the city as well as the two recent fatal ICE shootings in Maine and Texas<\/a>. She said she visited the Mesa Verde facility, arguing it strips detainees of their humanity.<\/p>\n “What happens elsewhere happens to us, too,” said Kaur. “We’re watching it from our phones, and none of this is normal, it’s not normal. It’s not normal for us to be watching families lose their loved ones on their way to work.”<\/p>\n She disagreed with critics of the sanctuary city policy who say it would put a magnifying glass on Bakersfield, arguing there already is one.<\/p>\n Council member Andrae Gonzales agreed with Kaur, saying ICE has been terrorizing local neighborhoods, immigrant communities and other people of color in Bakersfield. He called it unconstitutional.<\/p>\n He said while the city already follows state laws and doesn’t coordinate with ICE, they “ought to do more.”<\/p>\n Gonzales also emphasized the importance of not sugarcoating the issue as there have been cases where ICE agents still performed operations in sanctuary cities.<\/p>\n Gonzales made a referral to have the city’s Laws and Legislation Committee discuss a sanctuary city policy resolution that establishes the Council’s position, as well as the rights of immigrants and the rest of the community.<\/p>\n Kaur asked city staff to explore holding a TRUTH Act forum for the city of Bakersfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n She also initially asked staff to create a draft of the sanctuary city policy instead of having it go to a committee first, but agreed with Gonzales’ referral when Council member Larry Koman opposed it.<\/p>\n