ICE In Beacon...Things To Do! 6/22/2025
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ICE Raid In Beacon - At Least One Person Taken - Mayor Confirms Beacon Police Not Informed About It
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Multiple reports of ICE being in Beacon have occurred this morning into the afternoon of Friday 6/20/2025. This would mark the first time that ICE has been in Beacon that we know of, and has taken someone. Please write in if you know otherwise. Other details have emerged, but ALBB is seeking triple confirmation on them before reporting. If you have eye witness knowledge you would like to contribute, you can do so by writing into ALBB. Sources can be anonymous.
Several witnesses have confirmed that the taking of the person was on North Elm Street by an unidentified group of masked men in unmarked cars. So far, one person has been reported wearing an FBI vest. The incident took place at 7am Friday morning.
Editorial Update 6pm: By 7:45am this morning, said one person who drove by the incident, there were at least 3-4 unmarked cars blocking the street. A man was seeing running, but it was not clear if that was the man they were after or if he was helping trap who they were looking for. There have been reports of a person being tackled, but ALBB is awaiting confirmation.
It has been confirmed to ALBB that the person taken was an employee and possibly lived at the residence. Not yet confirmed is if the person was an employee of a business in the area. The taken person’s family was informed of their detainment.
According to Beacon’s Mayor Lee Kyriacou in a statement made on Facebook, Beacon Police were not aware that the raid would be taking place. Normally, the City of Beacon Police work in partnership with other agencies locally, and they do so over usually months of investigation. The Mayor’s statement did not include the location of the raid, but several residents of Beacon identified it as North Elm Street. Not known by ALBB at this time is what part of North Elm, as it is a long street.
After being contacted by multiple residents, Mayor Kyriacou issued the following statement regarding ICE activity in the City of Beacon on June 20, 2025:
“Earlier today, my office was informed by several residents of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in the City of Beacon.
“I want to make clear that at no time leading up to this incident did City staff, including our Police Department, have any notice of or involvement in ICE operations. As a City, we remain committed to our safe, inclusive community policy, to preserving rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, and to avoiding any policies which engender fear among law-abiding families.
“Our City’s Police Chief was able to confirm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after the fact, that an ICE operation occurred in Beacon earlier this morning. At this time, the City has no information as to the identity of the individual who was arrested or detained, the nature of the charges, or whether a judicial warrant was presented or not.
“The City of Beacon also has no information as to the current location of the person who was arrested or detained. Our Police Department is actively seeking further information regarding the situation at this time.”
Comments Of Interest
In social media, some people of Beacon - either current or have moved away - are in favor of this behavior. Said Tracy Eraca Pavlovic, a frequent aggressive commenter at ALBB’s Facebook, said: “If you’re here illegal you need to go along with anyone who gets in the way!!!! GO TRUMP!!!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸”
Greg Yozzo of Orange County Collectibles posted a meme of Uncle Sam putting up a poster that encouraged the reader to turn in people.
Juneteenth Festival In Beacon: This Year's Lineup Of Food, Fun, Shopping, and Resources
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Juneteenth is today for Beacon! The lineup of performers is action-packed, featuring favorites like DJ King Cyrus, the Marching Cobras, Zumba Sistas (Line Dance Instructor), Bosco and the Storm, and more. Plenty of food options await, including the Number Seven Sandwich Hub, Matcha Thomas, Pat's Kitchen Corp and others. Shopping includes The Little Me Boutique-Crowned Natural Haircare, Allor of Romance, Browngirlz Crafts, Shopping Reveal, LLC, 5HeartProducts, A Little Beacon Blog’s face painting table, and others. Find resources too! Like Self-Care JS Inc. and Sun River Health.
Bonus: There will be a Cowboy Carter themed photo booth with an actual horse! The festivities will be down at the river at Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park from 11-5pm. The event is free. Bring your dollars for food and fun. Several vendors accept cash or cards.
Performers:
DJ King Cyrus
Marching Cobras
Jayda Woodall
Bosco and The Storm
Soléya
FunkSway Soul Band
Mya Moore
Zumba Sistas (Line Dance Instructor)
Vendors:
Self-Care JS Inc. nonprofit organization
Spirit of Beacon Day
Allor of Romance
Just A Taste Foods LLC
Number Seven Sandwich Hub
Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail
Haywood Group
AbuBashir Oils
Sun River Health
RMWResources
Jades Collections
A Little Beacon Blog
Howland Public Library
Behind The Chair Ministries/Brandens Safehouse
The Little Me Boutique-Crowned Natural Haircare
Pat's Kitchen Corp
5HeartProducts
Backies All Natural
Browngirlz Crafts
Team Hart at epique realty
Corky ChEV CearTions LLC
The Potluck
Evies Eats
George’s Kitchen
Citwmininc
My Angels Home Care Inc
Shopping Reveal, LLC
Grace Smith House
Loquacitee
The House of Contemporary Art
Matcha Thomas
Kandles N Things, Ellen's Unique Boutique
Indivisible 845
Kappa Eta Eta Chapter, Inc.
Rise Up Project at St. Andrew & St. Luke Episcopal Church (SASLEC)
LesSoeurs Amiable Civic Club
The Love Quest Foundation Inc
Sisters of Salaam
Big Drip Italian Ice
Four Winds Crafts
Desmond Fish Library
Big Apple Concessions
Snack Shack
Incredible Creations
Falafal Vegan Food Truck
Natural Levity LLC
Beacon Historical Society
Queer Family Network
Caricature by Marlene
Baby Schnooks
Beacon Pride March: LGBTQ+ Friends and No Pride In Genocide
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The Pride marched down Main Street today, led by KK Devina BeaconLGBTQ. The march was specifically declared *not* a parade in promotional material. In KK’s speech before the march kicked off, KK spoke of why they created their Queer Fam: to create a protected space for themselves to exist and continue to speak out.
In KK’s 47 years of life, they have lost 47 friends to anti-queer actions or influence, “And I’m not even in a war,” they said. Just two days ago, they lost someone else, a trans woman muralist.
For this march, ALBB covered it by focusing on KK and no other photos, since in the LGBTQ+ space, safety is so important as people are targeted. Cindy Gould also attended taking photos.
ALBB heard one heckler early on in the area of the shops on the far west end of town, after leaving Pohill Park from above the sidewalk, shout: “Girls are girls and boys are boys!”
Chants include wore a 🍉watermelon shirt that said SILENCE = DEATH. The sidewalk was peaceful and many passerby’s showed their support. Chants included:
“No Justice, No Peace.”
“Who’s future? Our future.”
“From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.”
“No borders, no nations, stop deportations.”
“Bottoms Tops, no more Cops.”
“Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Climate Change has got to go.”
“Gender Bender, system offenders.”
“No borders, no nations, trans liberation.”
“No borders, no nations, queer liberation.”
”We’re queer; we’re fruits; we’re looking for recruits.”
The march ended at the VFW Memorial Building. The VFW wpened their space for the reception, where swag included groceries and freshly made empanadas (vegan and carnivore). Groceries were open to all, said KK, and encourage everyone to collect fresh heads of lettuce, onions, bags of greens, granola bars, juice, chips, and hygiene.
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🇵🇸🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Call For Artists: ROLL OUT 2025: Community Print and Steamroll Event
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The 2025 Call For Artists for the annual ROLL OUT community steamroll print event is going on now, with the deadline of June 20th! The event is on October 18, 2025 at The Yard from 12-5pm. Videos have been included in this article for you to experience what this steamroll print event can be all about.
This is the third annual ROLL OUT event, which is open to applications from relief print artists who would like to create a large-scale wood block to print by steamroller, followed by an exhibition and celebration in The Yard Galleries.
ROLL OUT is a community-wide event for ages 4-94 and all skill levels. Selected established artists will print their large-scale block by steamroller in the parking area of The Yard and install in exhibit that evening.
Activity tables for all ages and skills will be set up outside with guided instruction for making a variety of relief prints. Festivities include music, food vendors, and drinks for adults and kids.
ROLL OUT is made possible with support from The Yard, Beacon Arts, Arts Mid-Hudson, and the City of Beacon School District.
This year, the event is being hosted with Fledgling Press, Lauren Adelman, Sergio Alexis, and Carindaswann.
Application and Requirements:
Click here for the Application Link. Any trouble with that, email rolloutbeacon@gmail.com and DM their Instagram.
No Records Found That ICE Has Requested Aiding and Abetting From Beacon's Administrator or Mayor
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According to a FOIL request made by A Little Beacon Blog to the City of Beacon asking for any requests made by ICE to the City Administrator Chris White or Mayor Lee Kyriacou about immigration status' or actions taken with regard to immigrants in the City of Beacon, there have been “no records found responsive to this request,” the City of Beacon responded on 6/12/2025.
This request was made after Mayor Lee Kyriacou delivered his statement about the City of Beacon’s response to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) list that targeted cities and counties in New York State, including Dutchess County and Beacon.
In his statement delivered during a City Council Meeting, he said: “While the city has yet to receive any formal communication by the federal government, we remain confident that the City is abiding any all applicable state and federal laws and judicial orders. Our City and our Police Department remain committed to protecting public safety and any statements to the contrary are presumably misleading and inaccurate.”
City Council Agenda For 6/16/2025 Meeting
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Tonight’s 6/16/2025 City Council Meeting is a Double Header. The Summer Schedule begins, which means that both the Workshop and the Public Meeting are on the same night. The Workshop starts at 7pm, and the Public Meeting is estimated to start at 7:45pm, but will begin whenever the Workshop is over.
The Public Meeting Agenda is here.
The City Council Meeting after 7:45pm is open to the public, in that the public can come to speak on any topic for up to 3 minutes at the beginning and end of the meeting.
Public Hearings:
Tonight’s meeting consists of 3 Public Hearings concerning the following. A Public Hearing means that the City Council needs to hear from the public on this specific subject before voting on proposed legislation.
Public Hearing for a Proposed Local Law to Amend the Zoning Code Concerning Accessory Apartment Requirements in the City of Beacon
Public Hearing for the Proposed 2026-2030 Capital Program
Public Hearing for a Proposed Local Law Concerning Vehicles and Traffic
Local Laws and Resolutions:
1. Resolution No. 57 - Appointing Dar Sims to the Position of Fire Lieutenant
2. Resolution No. 58 - Awarding a Contract to Sun Up Construction Corp. for the Fishkill Avenue Water and Sewer Replacement Project
3. Resolution No. 59 - Adopting Local Law No. 6 of 2025 Concerning the Drought Emergency Plan
4. Resolution No. 60 - Adopting Local Law No. 7 of 2025 Concerning Loitering
Links To Supporting Documents Are Here:
Yes, The Sign Guys Outside Rite Aid Are Twins
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If you were riding your bike down Main Street yesterday, and you saw the unusual marketing tactic found in Beacon of the Going Out Of Business sign guys (usually there are sign spinners and such in big cities and along Rte 9, but Beacon seems to have met the Big City scaffolding milestone), you may have taken a double take when you saw one man holding the sign, and then a nearly identical man holding another sign.
We have confirmed that they are indeed twin brothers.
Not Just The Protest...Things To Do! 6/13/2025
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The "No Kings" Protest Could Be Renamed To "No White Supremacy" - Details For Beacon's June 14th Protest
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Note From The Editor:
Before we all meet to protest T and his administration again, it is important to note that “both sides” have been kings. Part of the reason for how we got here is that both Democrats and Republicans have acted like kings, and the people impacted by their legislation did not appreciate it. One example was during COVID, when businesses were shut down, businesses had to comply with a myriad of new and ever-changing rules created at the federal, state and county levels, and people were forced to take a brand new vaccine. These actions had real impacts that created rebellion. I speak as a vaccinator, and as a registered Independent. Have never been a Democrat, and was a Republican by birth only and was glad to shed that.
I wish I could tell you that this video of this mother or this auntie or this sister having her baby with a pacifier snatched out of her arms by “law enforcement” to be replaced by handcuffs would be the defining moment of ending all of this.
But it’s not. And it won’t be.
Because there have been so many defining moments.
So many burning, melting bodies in Palestine by Israel IOF military.
So many pictures.
Remember that toddler who washed up on the beach?
She was Syrian and she was a refugee during the Obama administration.Obama had that “red line,” and she crossed it.
Her dead body floated past past it on the beach.
But nothing changed.
Obama still used drones to kill civilians.
And this was not acknowledged.
Now we have a genocide.
A slaughter of people.
The Congo yes. For our iPhones.
Palestinians. For so, so long. For white supremacy.
This No Kings protest is happening in Beacon on Saturday from 1-4pm and starts at the Post Office with the gathering on Veterans Place. It’s organized in part by Indivisible_845 . That’s great.
But Indivisible as a nationwide organizing effort has never called for the end of the occupation of Palestine by Israel and the United States. They have called for a “de-escalation,” and for a ceasefire.
But the United States funded the escalation. Provided weapons for the escalation.
This protest should be called No White Supremacy.
T is just making this whole country a reality show of violence, power and ego.
Anyone supporting the taking of Brown people is supporting the ripping apart of stolen Africans dragged to this continent. Slavery. Anyone supporting the taking of “undocumented” supports enslavement.
Where are the #donttreadonme🐍 people? Where are you? I’m co-opting your flag. It will hang with my 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
According to Wikipedia, that yellow flag design “proclaims an assertive warning of vigilance and willingness to act in defense against coercion…This has led it to be associated with the ideas of individualism and liberty…It is often used in the United States as a symbol of right-libertarianism, classical liberalism, and small government, as well as for distrust or defiance against authorities and government.”
- Wikipedia
Thank You, ALBB Advertisers
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Taking a sappy moment here to show gratitude to ALBB’s member advertisers. And one-time advertisers. Publishing during the beginning of the genocide was extremely difficult. But we all made it through. So much so, that we continue publishing about global events as they touch our lives here in Beacon, because you continue to want that.
While we don’t discuss politics with our sponsors, ALBB does have our Intersectional Justice Statement on our Media Kit page for businesses to read as they consider investing in this space to reach you.
We try to keep everything and everyone in a rhythm with what is happening each day. Thank you for supporting our member businesses. And for wanting the information you want from us. This has been a truly unique experience producing for you.
Ok. Reflection Mode over. Switching into Weekend Mode to get you the Things To Do Newsletter! And then a Beacon News Newsletter after that.
The image says:
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- both financial and emotional -
allows ALBB to continue publishing as an independent media news source for you.”
“ALBB’s member advertisers are one of our biggest suppliers of Good News for you. While we fly into the trenches of other news stories.”
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With Rite Aid's Closing, Where Will We Get Contact Solution After 6pm On Main Street?
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When Rite Aid goes out of business and you’re out of contact solution. 🗑️
And Beacon Wellness closed at 6pm but you didn’t get there in time.
So you walk the streets but no one else has contact solution.
Except Family Dollar!!
On Rte. 52!!
Which Beacon’s City Council is trying to zone out.
Because maybe they don’t like low income people except for the sidewalk grants they qualify the city for.
Rite Aid’s Going Out Of Business Sale Has Started
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Rite Aid’s Going Out Of Business Sale has started. The disposition company, SB360 Capital Partners, is managing the liquidation sale.
The signs say that everything must go and is on sale. Different sales are on different products. All over the counter medicine is gone, including children’s allergy meds, pain relief, eye care like contact solution, lice treatment (not that you want that because it doesn’t work and you should call The Lice Lady in Wappingers who sells the special comb), etc.
Makeup and nail polish are in stock. Beverages. Batteries. Christmas lights! Random picnic plates. Incontinence pads for men and women. Some office supplies including pens and scissors. Water. Sunscreen. Razor blades. Electronic equipment behind the counter. Batteries.
Employee’s last day is most likely July 13th. The warehouse is done suppling. Everything is out on the shelves.
Discounts are expected to drop over the coming days. SB360 Capital Partners is dictating all terms on what is on sale and how deep the discount. Employees are being patient and offering to scan an item first to look up the price first before you buy.
“Hey Katie: What is your take on what the Mayor said at the Townhall meeting about ICE?”
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After yesterday’s article on DHS and Beacon, a few questions came in. One of them:
“Hey Katie: What is your take on what the Mayor said at the Townhall meeting about ICE?”
Katie’s answer:
“I found him stronger in delivery than he usually delivers. He seemed like he cared as he read the statement. Cared in a defending of the People of Beacon kind of way.
Like his chest was out. Ready.
“He’s not like that about housing and rental price problems. But for ICE over-reach, he was firm.”
To lengthen the answer:
Mayor Kyriacou is firm about housing and rental price problems in that he does not want to fix them. He presents everything that exists now that in theory should keep prices down. The devotion to free market and the invisible hand that would keep prices down. But we all know that doesn’t work in real estate. And there are other issues that are not discussed that keep people locked out, like:
3 month rent savings to rent a condo (Hudson View, Vista Point)
No co-signers allowed (Hudson View, Vista Point)
Landlord accountability (hardly any)
Selective Building Inspections that can result in eviction (commercial or residential)
Select realtors driving prices up by creating bidding wars, encouraging cash offers, and pitting buyers against each other by threatening to kill a sale with another offer.
That said. Mayor Kyriacou was firm in his protective tone of ICE over-reach. Which I suppose is an oxymoron because ICE should not exist and was created for selective removal of people to maintain white supremacy.
I will also say that in Beacon, many citizens have their hope and faith in the City of Beacon Police Department, that they are not willing to become accomplices of ICE. That is a hope and belief I have, but I am not in the trenches to see what really happens. I do have faith in the Beacon Police Department that they are not looking to become accomplices.
See you in the next article about the upcoming protest.
Beacon's Mayor Kyriacou and National Sheriff's Association Respond To DHS Immigration Letter Targeting Cities and Counties
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During last week’s City Council Meeting (6/2/2025), Mayor Kyriacou acknowledged the list issued by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which targeted cities and counties including Beacon as a “sanctuary” that DHS felt were obstructing federal immigration laws during the 47th administration’s commitment to removing as many Brown people with varying immigration status’ as possible.
“While the city has yet to receive any formal communication by the federal government, we remain confident that the City is abiding any all applicable state and federal laws and judicial orders. Our City and our Police Department remain committed to protecting public safety and any statements to the contrary are presumably misleading and inaccurate.”
The list, posted by DHS on May 29th and removed 2 days later, according to reporting in the Highlands Current, included 15 counties and 12 cities in New York (out of 500 jurisdictions nation-wide on the list). MidHudson News reported that “according to the DHS, counties identifying as state sanctuary jurisdictions include Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester, but many of the counties strongly disagree. Municipalities with self-identification, according to DHS, include the cities of Beacon, Hudson, Kingston, Newburgh, and Poughkeepsie, and the Village of New Paltz.”
According to the Highlands Current, DHS said that the areas mentioned are “deliberately and shamefully obstructing” federal immigration enforcement and protecting “dangerous criminal aliens.” DHS instructed that the areas “immediately review and revise their policies to align with federal immigration laws,” but told municipalities to “conduct their own evaluation.”
Also according to the article, the Trump administration is attempting to strong-arm support hyper-locally through its 287(g) agreements with local law enforcement agencies. “Those agreements allow agencies to assume some enforcement duties and greatly expand the capabilities of ICE,” reporter Leonard Sparks said.
Active 287(g) agreements in place between ICE and at least one jurisdiction in the states that are green. As of May 13, 2025.
Beacon’s Mayor Kyriacou’s Response To The DHS List
Mayor Kyriacou proclaimed during the meeting: “The Department of Homeland Security issued a list which has apparently been withdrawn, of cities, counties and states that are ‘deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws and endangering American citizens.’ Which list includes the City of Beacon. It is absolutely not the case that the City is deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws. While the City has yet to receive any formal communication by the federal government, we remain confident that the City is abiding any all applicable state and federal laws and judicial orders. Our City and our Police Department remain committed to protecting public safety and any statements to the contrary are presumably misleading and inaccurate.”
National Sheriffs’ Association Pressures Federal Government To Withdraw Letter
According to MidHudson News, the list was removed due to pressure from local officials including sheriffs. “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has removed a list of ‘sanctuary’ states, cities and counties from its website following sharp criticism from sheriffs’ and elected officials throughout the U.S., including here in the in the Hudson Valley.”
The article continued: “The National Sheriffs’ Association had maintained that a list of “non-compliant” sheriffs could damage the relationship between the Trump administration and law enforcement.” The CEO of the National Sheriffs’ Association, Jonathan Thompson, was credited with impacting the withdraw in a memo written to sheriffs’ offices nation-wide:
According to MidHudson News, “The Department of Homeland Security removed its misguided and error-prone sanctuary State, Counties, and Cities list. This happened only after Tom Homan and senior-most White House staff weighed-in directing it be withdrawn until further notice. Suffice to say this is a good first step but more remains to be considered.”
Revisiting Beacon’s “Welcoming City” Resolution
In 2017, Beacon signed legislation declaring it a “Welcoming” city, and elected not to be identified as a “sanctuary” city due to the threat of federal funding being withdrawn should a municipality identify as such. The full resolution can be read here. At the time, this was a highly contested piece of local legislation, with many in the Beacon community divided and packing the City Council meetings to speak for or against.
The resolution that Beacon passed reinforced the laws that already existed, and added more guidelines. A few of those are listed below:
City employees and officials shall not:
(a) Stop, question, interrogate, investigate or arrest an individual based solely on (i) actual or suspected immigration or citizenship status, or (ii) a “civil immigration warrant,” administrative warrant, or an immigration detainer in the individual’s name, including those identified in the National Crime Information Center database;
(b) Inquire about the immigration status of an individual, including a crime victim, a witness, or a person who calls or approaches the police seeking assistance, unless necessary to investigate criminal activity by that individual; or
(c) Perform the functions of a federal immigration officer or otherwise engage in the enforcement of federal immigration law, whether pursuant to 8 U.S.C §1357(g) or any other law, regulation or policy.
2. Detainer Requests. City employees and officials shall decline to respond affirmatively to a “civil immigration detainer” or similar request, unless (a) the request is accompanied by a judicial warrant, or (b) the police chief has determined there is probable cause to believe that the individual either (i) has illegally re-entered the country after a previous removal and has been convicted of a New York Penal Law Class A felony or Class B violent felony (or of an equivalent federal crime or crime under the law of another state); or (ii) has or is engaged in terrorist activity.
3. Information Requests. Subject to the ability of supervisory police officials to exercise their sound judgment as necessary to protect public safety, all City employees and officials shall:
(a) Decline to respond affirmatively to requests from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) or Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) for non-public information about an individual unless the request is accompanied by a judicial warrant or has a legitimate law enforcement purpose exclusive of the enforcement of immigration laws; EXCEPT that nothing in this resolution shall restrict any City employee or official from complying with the requirements of 8 U.S.C. § 1373 insofar as (i) sending to, or requesting or receiving from ICE information regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, whether lawful or unlawful, (ii) maintaining such information, (iii) exchanging such information with any other federal, state or local government entity; or (iv) otherwise disclosing information about an individual’s criminal arrests or convictions, or juvenile arrests, delinquency or youthful offender adjudications, where disclosure is otherwise permitted by state law or required pursuant to subpoena or court order;
(b) Limit the information collected from individuals concerning immigration or citizenship status to that necessary to perform agency duties and shall prohibit the use or disclosure of such information in any manner that violates federal, state, or local law; and
(c) Inform the City Administrator of all requests received from ICE or CBP, who shall report on requests to the Mayor and City Council.
6. Local Resources. City employees and officials shall not use city funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, enforce or otherwise assist any federal program requiring registration of individuals on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or national origin, including but not limited to ICE’s 287(g) program.
