Motions to restrict I.C.E. access to public property in Moorhead are tabled and pushed to a workshop

MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) — Moorhead City Council tables a motion to direct city staff to look into ways to restrict I.C.E. access to public property for staging areas.

The item to draft such a policy was added this morning to the agenda by council members Nicole Mattson, Emily Moore and Deb White.

They offered up a separate motion to look into ways the city, including police, can respond to federal immigration enforcement activities.

Several council members say the city manager and attorney have already given them pages of information on what they can and cannot do legally when it comes to I.C.E.

“It doesn’t make sense to me to poke the bear. Right now there hasn’t been a lot of activity in Moorhead and I don’t think it’s in the best interests of the City of Moorhead to be making these kind of policies when it’s not necessary,” said Council Member Lisa Borgen.

Council Member Nicole Mattson said, “People are asking us to do something. Um, I’ve heard it many times from many people in many contexts please do something. People are asking us to do things we definitely cannot do.”

At the end of the discussion, the vote was 5-3 to move the motions to a council workshop for further discussion.