Peoria Mayor Rita Ali and Police Chief Eric Echevarria spoke strongly Tuesday against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity that turned deadly in Minnesota as they sought to assure residents of the city’s commitment to protect the public.
Echevarria, who described his heritage as “Afro-Latino,” said as both a minority and a law enforcement officials he understands “both sides of the coin” in regard to immigration policy.
“We cannot control federal policy or decisions, but what we control is how we serve our community, how we’re going to protect public safety and how we treat people,” Echevarria said during Tuesday’s Peoria City Council meeting.
“Our role is local public safety and we’ll not assist in immigration enforcement actions beyond what is required by law and department policy. We understand, the current state of ICE is a danger to communities – I’ll say that publicly. The impact of unchecked power is just devastating.”
Echevarria’s comments came after Ali brought up the topic for a non-agenda discussion after clashes this month between ICE agents and protesters in Minneapolis resulted in the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The chief outlined some actions Peoria police will take if and when ICE agents conduct operations within the city.
“Every officer in a situation where immigration is there or may be there present, we will have body cameras on, and we will report and document what is occurring,” said Echevarria. “We will not intervene in lawful – I’ll repeat that, ‘lawful’ – federal actions, but we will not allow violence.”
Ali noted that Peoria and its police department are bound by the Trust Act, an Illinois law enacted in 2017 that generally prohibits local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
“State law prohibits Illinois law enforcement from entering into immigration enforcement agreements with immigration authorities, from complying with immigration detainers, from transferring individuals into immigration agents custody without a criminal warrant, and from allowing immigration agents access to state and local facilities for investigative or enforcement purposes,” she said.
Several people sitting in the gallery of the council chambers held signs throughout the entirety of the meeting in protest of ICE tactics and the Trump Administration’s immigration policy.
Nearly all of the dozen residents who spoke during public comments addressed the situation, including one man who repeatedly shouted “Shut down ICE” at the conclusion of his remarks.
“Since Illinois is similar to Minnesota in being led by a Democrat, we remain at high risk of seeing the tactics used in Minnesota, seeing them here in our community,” said Hind Abi-Akar, who called on the council to support pending Illinois legislation that would establish “safe zones” such as state courthouses, schools and healthcare facilities where ICE would be blocked from operating.
“We know that these state laws do not prevent ICE from operating independently within the state under federal authority. However, actions by this council, as we just saw a preview of, can reaffirm your commitment to do what you can within the law to protect the citizens of Peoria.”
Echevarria noted the police department will focus on “de-escalation” in any situation where protestors engaging with ICE agents increases the potential for violence.
