By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
The D.C. Council’s Committee on Public Works and Operations, led by Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), is pressing Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), Interim Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Jeffery Carroll, and federal immigration authorities over local cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lawmakers released a report on Jan. 8 seeking to end MPD involvement in ICE operations following heightened federal immigration enforcement in the city. Council members said masked agents and unmarked vehicles used during ICE operations have fueled fear in immigrant communities and weakened trust between residents and local law enforcement.
“The most significant finding, based on the testimony and other information in this report, is that many residents have lost trust in MPD,” Nadeau said in the report.
The call for action came a day after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Local legislators and community members are alarmed by the rise in ICE agents in D.C. and nationwide since January 2025, citing arrests of immigrants and Latinx people, masked agents and unmarked vehicles disrupting communities.
The report recommends several steps for the D.C. government to enact in response to this report. It recommends that the mayor rescind Order 2025-090, the “Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center” order, which authorized indefinite local coordination with federal immigration authorities. The report asserts that the Interim Chief of Police should end the order on immigration enforcement, which allows MPD officers to share information about people not in custody and provide transportation for federal immigration officers.
As well, the report suggests that the D.C. Council should reaffirm the “Sanctuary Values Act” and fill in any gaps that have enhanced the Bowser administration’s power to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, including holding a hearing on B26-0549, the “Safe Community Places and Policing Amendment Act of 2025.”
Lawmakers also urge that federal law enforcement officers be subject to the same restrictions imposed on MPD officers, including not wearing masks and providing identification.
“The Committee heard a range of testimony from the public about what they have seen and experienced first-hand, all centered on how MPD and other D.C. government agencies have been involved with federal law enforcement in ways that may have circumvented the District’s current protocol and policies,” Nadeau said. “The Committee continues to investigate these accounts and is seeking information from and related to agencies named in witness statements and news reports.”
“The Committee acknowledges that what a resident sees during an incident is often not the complete picture, and that MPD has long had cooperative agreements with numerous federal agencies under Congressional statutes,” she added.
Since the 47th president’s emergency declaration in 2025, over 40 percent of arrests in D.C. were federal civil immigration arrests, totaling 943, more than any other cause, according to the council’s report.
According to the report, Carmen Daugherty, interim executive director of the Advancement Project, told the council the federal surge increased pretextual policing, where officers cite minor violations to justify invasive searches or referrals to ICE or criminal databases. Pretextual policing has long harmed Black and Brown communities, and the federal surge could worsen its impact.
MPD deferred to Chief Carroll’s response to Councilwoman Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, who had asked for clarity on MPD coordination with federal authorities.
“I share the values of the District government, which welcomes people from around the country and the world to make this a vibrant and safe city,” said Carroll. “Consistent with that, MPD remains committed to its longstanding policy prohibiting enforcement of civil immigration laws, absent a criminal warrant or criminal judicial order.”
“MPD is not working with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” he added. “But many of the federal agencies MPD is working with during this period of enhanced federal partnership, and with which MPD has long established relationships, now have authority to conduct civil immigration enforcement. When MPD officers go out with these agencies, our goal is to address crime and community concerns, not to enforce civil immigration. However, federal agents can and do exercise their own enforcement authority.”
Pinto addressed his response via Facebook.
“While I appreciate MPD providing a response to our letter about the general state of affairs with federal entities and their ongoing deeper review regarding crime statistics, their response does not provide the detailed information our letter requested and many questions remain unanswered,” said Pinto. “I look forward to continuing to work with MPD to get these questions addressed and we will do so during the upcoming performance oversight process and hearing we are holding in several weeks.”