The Clark County Council on Tuesday, Feb. 17, formally adopted a statement clarifying its stance on federal immigration enforcement after weeks of well-attended meetings and sharply divided testimony.
The resolution, approved 3-2 on Feb. 11 with Councilors Matt Little and Michelle Belkot dissenting, reaffirms that immigration enforcement is a federal function while expressing alarm over reported tactics that the council says have fueled fear in the community.
Chair Sue Marshall read the full resolution into the record. The statement says the council is “alarmed by reported federal immigration enforcement activities and tactics that do not align with the council’s values of transparency, law enforcement identification and due process” and that those actions have “contributed to fear and loss of trust among residents.”
It affirms that immigration enforcement is a lawful federal function and states that Clark County does not participate in civil immigration enforcement beyond what is required by law. The resolution also directs the county’s public health department to work with community partners to gather data on health impacts related to immigration enforcement and report back to the Board of Health.
The council further states that it “expects enforcement tactics that are not based on profiling, overly aggressive, do not escalate situations, and that do not increase fear, confusion or undermine public trust and community safety.”
Public comment once again reflected deep divisions following Marshall’s reading.
Bruce Barnes, a Clark County resident and the first speaker of the night, approached the podium with a toilet paper roll as a prop, which was placed on the side of the podium. Chair Sue Marshall noted the council may need to review its rules on props in the future as Barnes took to the stand.
Barnes said it was meant to reference behavior at a previous Wednesday, Feb. 11, meeting in which county resident Fia Marie criticized the proposed resolution as ineffective, holding up a long strip of paper as a prop and making a wiping gesture before dropping it to the floor. Barnes criticized council leadership for how recent public comment had been handled as public comment was allowed to continue.
“My prop here tonight, it’s for last week’s ill behavior that was in this council meeting, and what was more ill to me is that you just called somebody out of order, but yet for two weeks, you let somebody use the F-bombing here and disgraced the county council building, which I own and everybody else … owns. You’ve also caused a humongous hostile … environment that made it very dangerous for people to come here by allowing those actions to happen,” Barnes said.
Barnes argued the council has no authority over federal agents and said public safety should remain the focus.
“The letter was written. Great. OK, but you have no ability to stop federal agents from coming in here. That’s none of your business, period. The business at hand here is our public safety in our community by our sheriffs or our community members … You have no superiority over ICE agents in this community, period,” he said.
Regarding the actions of federal immigration enforcement, other speakers described fear rippling through immigrant communities.
Adriana Lopez, a Clark County resident and member of OneAmerica, told councilors the issue is deeply personal. Years ago, she said, her children’s father was taken by immigration enforcement.
“My daughter looked at me with fear and asked me, ‘are you gonna be deported too?’ That question lived in her mind every single morning,” Lopez said.
Lopez said her 20-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen, still worries about being targeted because of her appearance.
“I’m also worried about my oldest daughter who is 20 years old, brown skin, and beautiful dark curly hair … even a citizen. Every time she tried to go to school, to work, or just to be with friends, I wonder if she will be harassed, if she will be detained, or she will be shot. Not because of doing something wrong or illegal, but because of how she looks. The fear is real for our community,” she said.
Carmen DeLeon urged the council not to weaken cooperation with federal authorities and compared U.S. policies to those of other countries.
“In Mexico, it’s a felony to be illegal. So why don’t we hold the Mexicans up to their own standards and, hey, I’m not racist, let’s talk about the Chinese because there are so many illegal Chinese people, you know, it’s not just the brown people who need to be afraid,” De Leon said.
Matthew Brands, a teacher in the Clark County area, said he sees the emotional toll on students firsthand.
“I have students (who) are sleeping in school. And in talking with them, I’ve heard that they’re sleeping because they are so scared at night that there’s gonna be a random car with dark tint that’s sitting outside their house or their mobile home or their apartment that they are constantly trying to look out the window, check cameras. They can’t sleep at night. The only place that they feel like they could sleep is at school,” Brands said.
