Correction: An earlier version of this story said the resolution included language about exploring the creation of a legal justice fund. That language was removed from the final adopted resolution before the vote. The Record regrets the error.
The Riverside City Council Tuesday night voted 4-3 to adopt a resolution encouraging transparency for federal immigration officials while tasking Riverside police with monitoring the agents within city limits.
Council members Clarissa Cervantes, Sean Mill, Philip Falcone and Steve Hemenway voted in favor, while council members Jim Perry, Steve Robillard and Chuck Conder voted against.
“Your taxpayer dollars fund this city,” Cervantes, who championed the effort, said at the October 14 special meeting. “So, of course, it is within our ability to direct and coordinate and work with our police department to assure that we are upholding the laws in place in California.”
The adopted resolution urges federal immigration agents to operate transparently within the city by using marked vehicles, wearing visible agency identification and showing information when requested. It also asks the Riverside Police Department to monitor immigration enforcement activity and confirm and document the identity of federal agents when legally permissible.
The resolution also tasks the city manager and city attorney with documenting federal immigration enforcement activity and reporting it to the appropriate oversight bodies and organizations for review and calls on the city to ensure it does not retain people’s immigration status on its databases or share information collected from license plate readers unless a warrant is provided.
The resolution also calls for the city to roll out a campaign to educate residents on their legal rights and explore potential legal avenues to assist residents.
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Hector Pereyra, political manager for the Inland Coalition for Immigration Justice, said in an interview with The Riverside Record, that the resolution would work in conjunction with a set of new California laws signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, including Senate Bill 805, dubbed the “No Vigilantes Act,” and Senate Bill 627, the “No Secret Police Act,” which would go into effect at the start of next year.
The No Vigilantes Act requires law enforcement officers, including federal agents, to identify themselves while on duty with some exceptions. The No Secret Police Act bans local, state and federal enforcement agents from wearing face coverings with the intent of concealing their identity while on duty.
“These two bills are going to rely on local implementation,” Pereyra said. “One thing the resolution does is it directs the Riverside Police Department to adopt documenting practices that would allow for enforcement of [Senate Bill] 627, and [Senate Bill] 805.”
More than 60 Inland Empire residents showed up to Tuesday’s special meeting to speak in support of Cervantes’ resolution, with some residents calling into the meeting to voice their opposition.
Many of the in-person speakers wore black T-shirts with the phrase “Do I look undocumented to you?” on the front and “Riverside Without Ice,” written in Spanish, on the back.
The sentiment among the public commenters was similar: Latino communities were looking for the council to advocate on behalf of foreign-born residents who have been targeted by the Trump administration’s immigration crack down.
Nancy Melendez, the president of Spanish Town Heritage Foundation and one of the speakers in support of the resolution, said city officials have talked about creating an inclusive community for decades, an ideal Latino residents have fully embraced by contributing economically and culturally to the city for decades.
“As a city, we have many written documents, resolutions and reports that say we have met these promises,” Melendez said. “We have indeed talked the talk. Now, it’s time to walk the walk and fulfill the promise of a safe community.”
After public comment, Falcone and Hemenway said they were willing to support the resolution. However, they both expressed concern that residents would believe the resolution would protect them from immigration enforcement in the city, which it would not.
Mill also spoke in favor of the resolution, stating that it aligned with his core values of limited government and opposition to federal overreach.
“I’m shocked that my conservative friends would be in support of what we’re seeing today,” Mill said at the meeting. “For years, they always told us that the federal government was coming to get us. That’s why we needed a Second Amendment, because they needed to protect themselves from federal overreach, and today, they’re supporting it.”
Perry, Robillard and Conder said the resolution lacked substance and was largely symbolic, noting that immigration enforcement was a federal issue outside of the city’s authority.
“We can pass all the resolutions and legislation we want,” Perry said. “At the same time, realistically, it has no bearing on the federal government.”
They also felt much of the resolution’s intentions had already been addressed by local and state policies, like Senate Bill 54 and the Riverside Police Department’s foreign nationals policy.
Perry and Conder both said they felt the resolution could negatively impact both local and federal law enforcement officers, even though both said they didn’t fully agree with the tactics of federal immigration agents.
Perry felt the resolution might prevent Riverside police from effectively doing their work and could call more attention to the city from the federal government instead of curbing it, while Conder said federal agents needed to be able to conceal their identities to protect themselves and their families from harassment and doxxing.
Conder also said that he and his constituents largely support the work of the federal immigration agents, stating that the actions of the federal agents had protected Riverside residents.
“Voting yes on this resolution will be saying the opposite, that you support leaving such dangerous and violent criminals in our communities,” Conder said. “That’s why I’ll be voting no, and why I encourage my colleagues to consider the consequences and to do the same.”
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