EnforcementThe Greenbelt City Council broke from its normal pattern of unanimity at its regular meeting on August 13. The discussion, which focused on local immigration enforcement, cellular reliability and economic goals, was marked by argument and calls for public comment. Cell Reliability Council accepted without discussion the Public Safety Advisory Committee’s report on cellular phone connectivity and reliability. PSAC reported that “the issue of cellular connectivity and reliability has become an urgent issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.” PSAC found that signal problems caused residents frustration and even prevented calls to 911. They also reported a variety of coping mechanisms people used while trying to make calls such as standing by windows, hanging out second floor windows, standing on porches, walking to the street or even walking down the street until they find a signal. The problem affects service by all major carriers serving Greenbelt. Carriers say the problem results from overloaded cell towers, and the only solution is to add another cell tower. Council will discuss the report at a future meeting. See www.greenbeltmd.gov/PSAC-cell for the PSAC report to council.
Council discussed “General Orders for City Policy and Federal Immigration Enforcement.” Acting Chief Thomas Kemp provided this order. It reminds officers that they have no authority to enforce civil violations of federal immigration laws. Officers also may not confiscate any green card, citizenship or immigration documents unless there is reason to believe the documents are altered or counterfeit. It directs them not to ask anyone about immigration status, except in certain limited circumstances. Officers may refer undocumented residents to available services. Officers should enforce judicial criminal warrants if found. Civil warrants and administrative warrants of removal from the U.S., however, are not enforceable by city police. It was clear from the beginning that this item would need to be deferred until councilmembers as well as the public had an opportunity to review the document. Council took a few moments to provide their initial comments, and found that the orders needed further review. At the time of the goals meeting, some councilmembers had not received a draft of the orders.
Councilmember Colin Byrd said that cities such as Hyattsville, Cheverly and others would provide a more suitable model for local immigration enforcement. Kemp noted that city police have received no detainers since 2015. A detainer is an administrative document that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) places “on aliens who have been arrested on local criminal charges and for whom ICE possesses probable cause to believe that they are removable” from the U.S. See www.greenbeltmd. gov/ICE_GO for Kemp’s order regarding Greenbelt Police policy on immigration law enforcement and interaction with ICE.
Economic Development
Economic development was perhaps the most contentious item on council’s agenda. In an August 6 worksession, council developed a list of goals for each category in this area. Councilmember Rodney Roberts had not expected this document would go directly from worksession to approval. He called for council to accept public input before moving forward.
Mayor Emmett Jordan and Councilmember Edward Putens argued against this. Two Greenbelt residents rose to comment. Molly Lester of Hillside Road and Bill Orleans urged council not to vote without an opportunity for public comment. Council deferred the item until the September 10 regular meeting. For more information on economic development goals see www.greenbeltmd.gov/econ_dev_goals
PSAC report: www.greenbeltmd.gov/PSAC-cell
ICE General Order: www.greenbeltmd.gov/ICE_GO
Economic Dev. Goals: www.greenbeltmd.gov/econ_dev_goals
The News Review gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Beverly Palau of the City of Greenbelt for assistance in locating web references for this article.