Lansing City Council members passed a resolution Monday night expressing concern about federal agents in other parts of the country wearing face masks that conceal their identities while carrying out immigration enforcement operations.
The operations by federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security have come under additional scrutiny after federal agents fatally shot two American citizens in Minnesota.
Lansing City Council members unanimously passed a resolution to formally oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers wearing masks except when medically necessary.
Councilmember Ryan Kost said the resolution is a symbolic statement of opposition.
“There’s no enforcement of law in here, so I don’t want anyone to say, if they run across an individual that is ICE with a mask on, ‘you can’t wear that mask,’ and get into a confrontation because we passed this,” Kost said.
Mayor Andy Schor said the city is working on a plan for how to handle potential future immigration enforcement operations in Lansing.
But he said advocates and citizen groups might have different plans of their own.
“What we can do through a city, through an HRCS, through an LPD, through an LFD, is very different than what people might do or might try to do,” Schor said.
Schor said he has been talking with leaders in other cities and examining websites outlining individuals’ rights.