[0:00] Welcome to the ONS podcast with your [0:03] host Lana Jacobson. [0:05] >> Good day community. It's the ONS podcast [0:08] brought to you by our partners at Face [0:09] toface Academy. For those who are tuning [0:12] in for the first time, ONS stands for [0:14] Office of Neighborhood Safety. I'm your [0:16] host Lia Jacobson and I am part of the [0:18] ONS team. This podcast was created for [0:21] departments like ours and community [0:22] organizations to connect you to [0:24] alternative public safety measures, [0:26] programs, and your local growth and [0:28] healing opportunities. [0:30] St. Paul is a tapestry blanket that [0:34] includes people from many nations. We [0:37] consist of many identities that includes [0:39] different backgrounds, faith, [0:41] ethnicities, shades, shapes, sizes, love [0:44] interests, and pronouns. With everything [0:47] that is currently brewing under the [0:48] Trump administration, we think it is [0:50] very important to address the crisis we [0:52] find ourselves in as it pertains to the [0:55] safety of our immigration population. [0:57] Today we have attorney Edmundo Leehill [1:00] from our city attorney's office here in [1:01] St. Paul who comes from our civil [1:03] division's immigration legal services [1:05] department. He is here to give us [1:07] insight on what is happening and [1:09] resources our friends, family, and [1:11] neighbors can take advantage of [1:12] protecting their resident status [1:14] continuing to call Minnesota home. [1:16] Welcome, Edmundo. [1:18] >> Thank you, Lenia. Thank you for having [1:19] me on. I'm really excited to be here [1:21] today. [1:21] >> Take 30 seconds and tell us about [1:23] yourself. [1:24] >> Sure. I'm an attorney with the civil [1:26] division of the city attorney's office [1:28] and I run the immigrant refugee program [1:31] for the city. It's a program that was [1:33] actually established at the same time, [1:34] actually in the same ordinance as the [1:36] Office of Neighborhood Safety. And our [1:39] mission is to uh provide opportunities [1:43] and information and context for [1:46] immigrants and immigrant communities [1:48] that live in St. Paul. [1:50] >> Thank you. That's awesome. So, Edmundo, [1:53] I have some icebreaker questions. [1:54] >> Sure. [1:55] >> And I remember just some things from [1:57] what we talked about just like [1:58] conversations we've had in the past. So, [2:01] best vegan spot in Minnesota to eat [2:03] >> my house. [2:06] >> I do a lot of my own cooking cuz I, you [2:08] know, I I'm a plant-based guy and and [2:10] and I do it because of my health. I'm a [2:12] diabetic and it, you know, it helps keep [2:15] me healthy. So, you know, I'm always [2:17] worried about what if people put in [2:18] there. [2:19] >> Yeah. My husband is a diabetic, too. [2:21] He's a type one. And I was actually, he [2:23] was asking me, "Well, who are you going [2:24] to be interviewing today?" And I was [2:25] telling him about you and I was telling [2:26] him then I started telling him about the [2:28] vegan thing. Yeah, you know, it's really [2:30] sad. Um, there used to be a really good [2:32] place in the Skyway and then CO hit and [2:35] it was really close to the office and [2:36] now it's gone. So, that was my favorite [2:38] place. [2:39] >> What is your favorite color? [2:41] >> Blue. [2:42] >> Okay, that was easy. [2:43] >> If your family had to describe you, [2:45] would they refer to you as Mr. Fix It or [2:48] Mr. Call somebody and I'll take care of [2:49] it and pay for it? [2:51] >> If we're talking about mechanical [2:52] things, it's like he'll call somebody, [2:54] we'll pay for it. [2:55] >> If we're talking about everybody else's [2:57] business, it's Mr. Fix It. Okay, [3:01] let's jump into these questions. Tell us [3:03] exactly what it is you do for the city [3:05] of St. Paul. [3:07] >> Uh I am a legal adviser to the city, to [3:09] the mayor's office, city council, and [3:10] all departments in the city about [3:12] anything that has to do with [3:14] immigration. Okay. [3:15] >> Uh immigration law, immigration policy, [3:17] immigration enforcement. [3:19] >> Okay. [3:20] I uh run the immigrant refugee program [3:22] which also is a resource for immigrant [3:25] and refugee communities in the city for [3:28] information about housing, jobs, legal [3:31] services, anything they might need and [3:33] anything that could help them to find [3:35] opportunities or develop opportunities [3:38] not only to prosper and grow, but to [3:40] contribute. Because, you know, we hear [3:42] so much these days about how immigrants [3:44] are coming and they're criminals and [3:45] they're doing all these bad things when [3:47] the truth is most immigrants are here [3:50] because they're fleeing persecution or [3:52] violence or or they're looking to [3:54] improve their life and they come and [3:56] they they want to contribute. They don't [3:58] want to take, they want to contribute. [3:59] They want to be part of the community. [4:02] So, we really are looking for ways to [4:04] help people in the community to [4:05] contribute. When did you first know that [4:08] you wanted to do immigration law? [4:11] >> That is an interesting question. I I've [4:13] been, you know, as I think about it, I [4:16] think it happened organically. I don't [4:17] think it was like something I decided [4:19] this is what I'm going to do. I am the [4:20] son of immigrants. My dad immigrated [4:23] from Spain and then my mom, her mom [4:25] immigrated from Mexico and her dad was [4:27] from Puerto Rico. So, immigration was [4:30] always around me from the time I was [4:31] born. I grew up in Newark, New Jersey, [4:34] where there are a lot of immigrant [4:36] communities, a lot of different [4:37] communities passing through. When I was [4:39] really little, my parents are always [4:41] trying to help somebody else that had [4:42] just come. So, I I was always around [4:44] immigrants, but I also come from a [4:46] family that was all union. My entire [4:49] family was in a union. My grandmother [4:51] was a garment worker. My grandfather was [4:52] an AFL CIO. My dad and his brothers were [4:55] all teamsters. So, I decided to go to [4:58] law school and thought, I'm going to be [4:59] a labor lawyer. I'm going to work for a [5:00] labor union. Mhm. [5:02] >> My first law clerk jobs with the Henipin [5:04] County Public Defenders Office, you [5:05] know, doing criminal work. And then at [5:07] the time there was all these influx of [5:10] people coming and who got arrested, but [5:13] they had im what's called immigration [5:14] detainers. And no one at that time knew [5:16] what that was, how to deal with it. So, [5:19] you know, the lawyers kept asking me, [5:20] "Hey, Mundo, go research this. You know, [5:22] what's this immigration detainer all [5:23] about?" And I just kind of fell into it [5:25] and I started doing it and it just felt [5:26] natural. my first job out of law school, [5:29] I worked for a law firm that did about [5:31] 50% of their practice was immigration [5:33] work. And [5:34] >> you know, [5:34] >> it just kind of fell in you fell into it [5:36] and you became like the expert. So, [5:38] you're like, why not? [5:39] >> Yeah. Well, I loved it. I love the [5:40] people. I love the people. I love [5:42] immigrants. I love, you know, the energy [5:43] they bring to the community. I I I love [5:46] the fact that they, you know, they [5:48] they're big on family. They're big and [5:50] they might be big on faith regardless of [5:52] what their faith is, but they have a [5:53] faith and they and they and they live [5:55] it, you know, and it and it and it's [5:56] just beautiful. [5:57] >> I think one thing that I one of the [5:59] things that I noticed that I really [6:00] admire about our immigration population [6:03] is that they're so familyoriented and [6:07] they all help each other. And I think [6:11] that's one of the things that some of us [6:14] as firstborn Americans take advantage of [6:17] and that we lose sight of is actually [6:19] helping each other. You know what I [6:20] mean? We've kind of been put in this pot [6:22] of like where we've got to climb the [6:24] ladder and we're stepping on each other [6:26] and we're just out for self and we don't [6:27] have time to look back because we're too [6:28] busy trying to get ahead. And one of the [6:31] things that I know about notice about [6:34] our immigrants, they are always there [6:36] like they're helping each other like [6:37] they want to help each other prosperous. [6:39] just like we are a group and we're going [6:41] to do this together. And that's one of [6:43] the things that I really really do [6:45] admire about our immigrants. We can [6:47] learn a lot. [6:48] >> Tell us about your day-to-day work and [6:51] what it used to be like and what your [6:53] day-to-day work is like now and how it's [6:55] changed since we went into this crisis. [6:58] And I use the word crisis because the [7:00] definition of crisis is a time of [7:02] intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. [7:04] And I believe this is what some people [7:06] are finding themselves in right now. [7:08] Sure. I got hired at the at the city [7:11] attorney's office in 2019 [7:13] >> during the first Trump administration [7:15] >> and I was hired because two very big [7:20] incidents occurred that seriously [7:22] impacted our immigrant refugee [7:25] communities here in St. Paul. First, we [7:28] have a very large Southeast Asian [7:30] population living in St. Paul. Many of [7:33] th those folks came as refugees [7:36] >> and when they brought their children [7:38] with them, many of those children, as [7:41] many kids do, got in trouble as kids and [7:45] may have done things that they were [7:47] criminal acts that could get them [7:50] deported. [7:51] >> However, they couldn't be deported [7:53] because the countries they came from, [7:55] Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, would not take [7:58] them back. So what happened was they [8:01] would get these deportation orders and [8:03] then they'd go and live their lives. [8:05] They would, you know, they'd gotten in [8:08] trouble as kids, as juveniles, but then [8:10] they turned their lives around, you [8:12] know, built businesses, got jobs, got [8:14] educations, got, you know, built [8:16] families. They became part of the [8:18] community. But then when President Trump [8:20] was first elected during his first term, [8:23] >> he entered into what was called [8:24] repatriation agreements with all these [8:26] countries. And now these countries [8:28] started taking people back. [8:30] >> So they started picking up folks who had [8:32] old orders that some of them were as old [8:34] as 30 years old. [8:36] >> And basically some of them were like [8:37] grandparents and and they were trying to [8:39] deport them and they were deporting [8:41] people back. [8:42] >> I saw a documentary about that. Okay. [8:44] >> Yeah. So so so that was the the first [8:47] kind of crisis that occurred. The second [8:49] thing that happened was there was a very [8:51] public arrest by ICE of an individual in [8:54] the courthouse and it sent shock waves [8:57] through the community. Sent shock waves [8:59] through the legal community because if [9:01] people are going to get arrested at the [9:02] courthouse, they're going to stop coming [9:04] to the courthouse. They're not going to [9:05] come to their hearings. They're not [9:06] going to come, you know, they're not [9:08] going to report a domestic assault if [9:10] they know if I go to the courthouse or [9:12] or, you know, my partner goes to the [9:14] courthouse, there's a chance they're [9:15] going to get picked up by ICE. So, Mayor [9:18] Carter was very, very worried about what [9:20] was going on. He saw that these [9:23] incidences, both the deportations and [9:25] the arrest at the courthouse was eroding [9:27] trust in the community and and it's that [9:30] is so critical to how we promote public [9:32] safety that he asked city attorney [9:35] Lindseay Olsen to hire an immigration [9:37] attorney to help us with some of these [9:39] issues. That time I was doing a lot of [9:40] legal advice around, you know, how do we [9:42] deal with certain things that came up. [9:44] The Trump administration was trying to [9:46] cut funding at that time based on [9:48] whether we cooperated with ICE or not. [9:50] Uh so some of the same issues we have [9:52] now were happening then. Then President [9:55] Biden got elected, things changed. It [9:56] was it was a much friendlier environment [9:59] for immigrants and really that's when we [10:01] started to get into community engagement [10:02] programs. We started to think about some [10:04] economic development programs we could [10:07] promote. We really focused on increasing [10:10] people becoming citizens of the United [10:12] States. So we developed citizenship [10:14] programs. We did all kinds of really [10:16] interesting and fun I call fun you know [10:19] engagement with the community cuz you [10:20] know you you were out there with me at [10:22] times you know we we'd be out parks and [10:24] and doing different events and and [10:26] >> and just talking to people and and it [10:28] was really felt like I was helping the [10:29] community kind of stabilize and and grow [10:32] and and take advantage of opportunities [10:34] and contribute which is you know what [10:36] they all wanted to do. But now that we [10:38] have a second Trump administration, [10:40] things again actually seem a little bit [10:42] worse because they they seem to be a [10:44] little bit better at the things they [10:45] were doing in the past. So now I'm back, [10:48] you know, advising the mayor's office, [10:49] advising city council, you know, [10:51] advising the city on how to deal with if [10:53] I shows up at the city or how do we [10:56] enforce what's called our separation [10:58] ordinance. And we can talk about that a [10:59] little bit more, but you know, I'm doing [11:01] a lot more lawyering, a lot less kind of [11:03] community engagement and and program [11:05] development. [11:07] Why is educating the community about [11:09] citizenship and legalization so [11:11] important? [11:12] >> Well, I I think there's a really [11:14] negative narrative around immigrants [11:16] that, you know, since 2016, we continue [11:19] to hear how, you know, immigrants are [11:21] just coming here to take from us. [11:23] They're coming to hurt us. They're [11:24] criminals. And in my experience both as [11:27] an immigration attorney and in the work [11:29] I did do now and you know as a kid [11:32] growing up in New Jersey that is so [11:34] vastly different from what I've [11:36] experienced with immigrant and refugee [11:38] communities, right? [11:39] >> And I think it's really important that [11:42] we educate the people who live in St. [11:44] Paul to realize this isn't the true [11:46] narrative. They're not here, you know, [11:48] to commit crimes. Yeah. Do some of them [11:49] commit crimes? Absolutely. In any [11:51] population, you're going to Yeah. You're [11:52] going to find people that do, you know, [11:54] bad things. I mean, there's always going [11:55] to be a percentage, a small percentage [11:57] of people, but you know, if you look at [11:59] that, the percentage of people [12:00] committing crimes in immigrant [12:01] communities are actually much smaller [12:03] than normal US populations because [12:06] they're afraid they're going to get [12:07] deported and they tend to like, you [12:09] know, really tell their kids you can't, [12:11] you know, you can't do this or they or [12:12] they tend themselves to be very strict. [12:15] So I think it's really important to [12:16] educate the community, our general [12:20] population about the true narrative of [12:22] what immigrants, you know, and all the [12:23] contributions they make. But then it's [12:25] also really important to educate our [12:26] immigrant and refugee communities about [12:28] their rights because it's very easy for [12:30] them to be taken advantage of and not be [12:33] able to enforce their rights or know [12:35] they even have rights and then those [12:36] rights get trampled on. So a big part of [12:38] what we do now is also inform the [12:40] community about the immigrant refugee [12:42] communities about what their rights are. [12:44] What is the city of St. Paul's stance on [12:46] deportation in its current form as it is [12:49] being implemented at the federal level [12:50] right now in 2025? [12:52] >> Well, I think immigration enforcement [12:54] right now is kind of Trump [12:56] administration's big thing. And they [12:57] seem to be disregarding the constitution [13:00] and the laws and rules that are in [13:02] place. And as you can see from the news, [13:05] they're being sued very often and [13:07] regularly. And the courts are kind of [13:09] pushing back on the things they're [13:11] trying to enforce. So, it's an [13:13] environment which is very much looking [13:16] to deny people due process, to really [13:19] not allow people to go to court and [13:21] really remove them from the United [13:23] States as quickly as possible. And [13:25] they're even deporting people to [13:27] countries they're not even from. [13:29] >> So, it's a very, very dangerous time to [13:31] be an immigrant or refugee in America. [13:37] >> What is St. Paul doing to help our [13:39] immigration population feel safe? tell [13:41] us about your programs. [13:42] >> Sure. Um, like I said, back during the [13:44] Biden administration, we were doing a [13:46] lot of programming around developing and [13:48] assisting people with naturalization, [13:50] developing programs that help people to [13:52] how to become a citizen. We were doing [13:53] citizenship fairs where we we talked [13:56] about how to become a citizen, what was [13:58] required, um, how you go about it. We we [14:00] entered into a contract with with a [14:02] legal service provider to assist St. [14:04] Paul residents to apply for citizenship [14:06] with the legal process. We created a new [14:09] American Loan Fund in partnership with [14:11] Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union and [14:13] the city of Minneapolis who we've also [14:16] partnered with on the citizenship [14:17] initiative. You know, between the two [14:19] cities, we partner a lot actually in a [14:22] lot of our programming because our [14:24] immigrant communities don't recognize, [14:25] hey, this is St. Paul or hey, this is [14:27] Minneapolis. You know, they may live in [14:29] St. Paul, but they go shop on Lake [14:31] Street. you know, they may live in, you [14:33] know, North Minneapolis, but they come [14:34] and shop at all the different [14:36] >> among, you know, malls and food malls [14:38] and stores in St. Paul, you know, so [14:40] there's a lot of moving around. They [14:43] they, you know, they may they may live [14:44] in one city, but they worship in the [14:46] other. They may worship in one city, but [14:47] they send their kids to school in the [14:49] other. So, you know, there's a lot of [14:50] movement. It it really is one community. [14:52] So, we have found that being a smaller [14:54] program as well as Minneapolis's [14:56] program, we coming together, we we're [14:58] able to create a lot of synergy around [15:01] our citizenship program and now around [15:03] knowing your rights and getting out [15:05] information to people about knowing [15:06] their rights, engaging with community in [15:09] both cities together to make sure that [15:11] people are learning about what should [15:12] they do if ICE shows up at their house, [15:15] what rights do they have, developing a [15:17] plan should one of the family members [15:19] gets deported, you know, creating a [15:21] family emergency mergency plan so they [15:22] know where all their documents are. You [15:24] know, what are we going to do about the [15:25] house, the rent, the car payment, you [15:28] know, all have all those things in [15:29] order, what am I are we going to leave [15:30] the kids here in someone else's charge [15:33] and how do we do that? How do we get [15:34] that done so that they have permission [15:36] to help the kids with school medical [15:38] decisions? All those things. So, those [15:40] are the things we're working on now [15:42] together as well. [15:44] >> That makes me so sad. [15:45] >> Yeah, it is. [15:46] >> Yeah. To have to even like think about [15:49] your life being uprooted. Yeah. [15:52] >> And having to come up with a plan like [15:53] what do you do if this were to happen? [15:55] >> Yeah. [15:56] >> It's it's really really sad times. What [15:59] are your goals in supporting our refugee [16:01] and undocumented families in St. Paul? [16:04] >> Well, I I think you know our goals as a [16:06] city are to really try to keep people [16:09] safe. [16:10] >> Um we we and we do that in a number of [16:13] ways. Back in uh 2021, we were very [16:17] lucky. uh we uh received a technical [16:20] assistance grant from an initiative [16:23] called Gateways for Growth. [16:24] >> Gateways for Growth is an initiative of [16:27] Welcoming America, an organization that [16:29] works and assists communities to welcome [16:32] immigrants. [16:33] >> And the American Immigration Council, [16:34] which is kind of the nonprofit branch of [16:36] the American Immigration Lawyers [16:38] Association, and they come together and [16:40] they have this initiative called [16:41] Gateways for Growth and helps local [16:43] communities develop immigrant inclusion [16:45] plans for their communities. So they [16:47] help you to do a whole bunch of [16:48] community engagement, figure out who [16:50] lives in your city. They provide you [16:52] with all kinds of uh demographic data [16:56] and economic data about the immigrants [16:58] that live in your community, where they [17:00] work, how much they earn, how much they [17:03] pay in taxes, what public benefits they [17:05] might use. So you have all this data [17:06] about how they impact your community. [17:09] And with that, they help you do [17:11] community engagement with different [17:13] organizations and different communities [17:15] to figure out how the city can develop a [17:18] plan for helping include immigrants in [17:21] the life of the civic, economic and [17:23] cultural life of the city. We were very [17:26] lucky and to do the uh initiative you [17:28] need to have a partner and our partner [17:30] was the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce. [17:32] >> Okay, [17:32] >> we were the lead and chamber was our [17:35] partner. At the same time, the [17:37] Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce got a [17:39] Gateways for Growth Initiative grant and [17:42] their partner was the city of [17:44] Minneapolis [17:45] >> and we both started out doing our [17:47] engagement on separate tracks. We were, [17:50] you know, two separate awards. We had [17:51] the same technical advisors because [17:52] they, you know, they do it regionally. [17:54] They give you technical advisors based [17:55] on where you are in the country. [17:57] >> And we we started going forward and this [17:59] was right in the middle of CO. And then [18:02] right as we're starting our community [18:04] engagement, George Floyd gets murdered. [18:07] >> At that point, nobody wanted to talk to [18:09] us. [18:10] >> And the few people that were talking to [18:12] us came back and said, you know, [18:13] Minneapolis is doing the same exact [18:15] thing. They're asking us the same exact [18:17] questions. They're asking us for the [18:18] same exact uh things. You we're we're [18:21] basically doing double the work. So we [18:24] got together with Minneapolis, the [18:26] chambers got together, and then they [18:27] brought the cities together and said, [18:29] "What if we go back to Gateways for [18:30] Growth? let's do one initiative together [18:33] and create a report [18:34] >> and do our inclusion report based on the [18:37] twin cities. And that's what we did. And [18:39] we came up with a report which was [18:41] published in April of 2022 which is [18:43] called the journey to belonging in the [18:45] twin cities. [18:46] >> And this is a map. It's a plan for how [18:49] to do immigrant inclusion in our cities. [18:52] And it's it's set up so it's we're [18:54] looking at both cities in a kind of a [18:55] dual track. So we have all this really [18:57] great economic data, demographic data. [18:59] You know, based on on the study and the [19:01] data we got, we know that one out of [19:03] every five people that lives in St. Paul [19:05] was born outside the United States. [19:07] >> And we know that onethird of the [19:09] entrepreneurs in this city are foreign [19:11] born. [19:12] >> You know, so they have a big economic [19:14] impact on our city. We know that over [19:17] 120 languages are spoken in St. Paul [19:19] homes. We're an incredibly diverse [19:21] community and it's beautiful. I mean [19:23] there there's so many cultures, you [19:25] know, the music. I love food. Now, we [19:27] talked about being a vegan, but you [19:28] know, I have a really hard time cuz I, [19:30] you know, I still love meat. I still [19:31] love, you know, cheat. [19:33] >> I'm not really a vegan. I'm more, you [19:34] know, I'm a plant-based guy based on my [19:36] health, but, you know, I do. That's the [19:38] problem. You know, you know, it's a [19:39] little hard to go to these, you know, [19:40] different events and different [19:41] communities and they've got this amazing [19:43] food. You know, food is is the uniting [19:45] force of all things. And if you have a [19:48] problem, I say just break out the food [19:49] and all a sudden [19:51] >> that that that shifts the whole focus [19:52] and all a sudden people become friends. [19:54] >> Yeah. [19:55] >> So [19:55] >> that's awesome. [19:57] >> That's awesome. Is there anything that [19:59] you want to add that you haven't get [20:00] been given a chance to share? [20:02] >> Yeah. So based on this report, we [20:04] created an inclusion plan and we had [20:06] four pillars [20:07] >> of areas. One of the areas was community [20:10] safety. And there's a lot in the plan we [20:12] haven't gotten to. When Lindsay Olsen, [20:14] the city attorney, saw this plan for the [20:16] first time, she saw a draft of it. She [20:18] said, "Admundo, how are you going to do [20:19] this? This will take you like seven [20:21] years, six to five to seven years to get [20:23] through this to do this." I said, "Well, [20:25] it's it's a plan. We can take pieces of [20:27] it." And you know, if you look at it, [20:29] one of the pillars of the plan is [20:30] community safety. And we took a small [20:31] piece of that [20:33] >> community safety pillar, and that's what [20:35] we've been working on. And it involves [20:37] what we call the separation ordinance. [20:39] And it's really the the big important [20:41] piece that we're doing today, especially [20:44] with the Trump administration. And it's [20:45] what's gotten us called a sanctuary [20:47] city. We've been labeled a sanctuary [20:48] city. It's because of our separation [20:50] ordinance. And what our separation [20:52] ordinance says is that the city of St. [20:55] Paul enforces state law and city [20:58] ordinances. We do not enforce federal [21:02] law, specifically federal immigration [21:04] law. We'll never ask someone about their [21:06] immigration status. Our police don't ask [21:09] about immigration status. You're never [21:10] going to be not denied or asked about [21:13] immigration status to receive a benefit [21:14] or to participate in a program through [21:16] the city. Um that ordinance was passed [21:19] in 2024, but the first Trump [21:22] administration where we were being [21:23] attacked for that ordinance as well. [21:26] people, you know, were just seeing all [21:27] this enforcement and thought we were [21:29] doing it and we had to really go out and [21:31] tell people and show people we weren't [21:33] enforcing federal immigration law [21:34] because what happens is people lose [21:36] trust if they think you're going to turn [21:38] them over to immigration because not [21:40] only are people undocumented, but a lot [21:42] of people lived in mixed status [21:43] families, which means some people might [21:45] have immigration status, some might not, [21:47] right? [21:47] >> And the other thing is when people are [21:49] enforcing immigration laws the way the [21:50] federal government is, they're doing [21:51] racial profiling. So between the racial [21:54] profiling and people being afraid, they [21:56] stop talking to law enforcement. They [21:58] stop talking to our police. And in order [22:00] for our police, as you know, to solve [22:02] crimes and promote community safety, [22:04] they have to have people talking to [22:05] them, [22:06] >> right? [22:06] >> So we have the separation ordinance. [22:08] Everybody thinks we're against the [22:09] immigration policies of the country. [22:11] It's not. Our separation ordinance is [22:13] really based on community safety. We [22:15] want people to be able to talk to us. We [22:17] need people to feel safe talking to our [22:18] police. need them to feel safe calling [22:20] 911 if you know my next door neighbor's [22:22] house is on fire. You know, I want to [22:24] feel safe that I would call them and [22:26] they're not going to come and and ask me [22:27] about my immigration status. So, one, [22:29] the separation or is really about [22:31] community safety. Number two, the [22:33] separation ordinance is about really not [22:36] having local resources commandeered by [22:39] the federal government. Okay? There's a [22:41] constitutional principle called the [22:42] anti-comandeering doctrine which says [22:44] that states have rights any rights that [22:46] are not through the constitution made uh [22:49] for the federal or given to the federal [22:50] government are retained by the states [22:53] that means states have resources that [22:54] they can use to enforce their rights and [22:57] carry out their mission [22:58] >> and the federal government is prevented [23:00] from commandering those services. So in [23:03] this case it would be like the federal [23:04] government coming in taking over our [23:06] police department saying you're now [23:07] going to enforce federal immigration law [23:08] and you're going to do you know enforce [23:11] our laws for us and help us arrest [23:13] people and [23:15] >> so with this they can't do that [23:16] >> right this ordinance where you're [23:18] basically saying we enforce our laws and [23:20] we focus on our priorities not on [23:22] enforcing federal immigration law. So [23:25] really, those are the two reasons for [23:26] the separation ordinance. And I think [23:28] it's really important for people to [23:29] understand that we're here. It's about [23:31] public safety. It's about giving our [23:34] police the resources and the ability to [23:36] do the job they were they were hired to [23:38] do, which is protect us and help us be [23:40] safe in our own community. [23:41] >> And Mundo, that piece right there, this [23:43] last piece that like it's all important, [23:46] but that is really, really important. [23:48] And that's why I wanted you to come on [23:50] because I think it's important that we [23:52] get the word out that it's okay for [23:53] people to feel safe. [23:55] >> Absolutely. [23:55] >> It's okay. [23:57] >> Tell us real quick about the Twin Cities [23:59] Immigration Forum that you have. [24:00] >> Sure. The Twin Cities Immigration Forum [24:03] is a forum that I host in partnership [24:06] with the Minneapolis Office of Immigrant [24:08] and Refugee Affairs. The director [24:10] Michelle Rivero and I have been hosting [24:12] that forum since the beginning of the [24:14] Biden administration in 2021. And it was [24:17] a place where we brought in experts and [24:20] people from the community to explain the [24:22] all the changes that were going on [24:23] during the Biden administration. And [24:25] over time it kind of morphed and changed [24:27] and it really became a place where we [24:28] come and we talk about all kinds of [24:31] issues that impact immigrant refugee [24:33] communities in the Twin Cities. We have [24:35] it every second and fourth Thursday of [24:36] the month from 4:30 to 6. It is a [24:39] virtual forum. It's on teams and people [24:42] can just come on and we have you know [24:43] guest speakers. I know you were on last [24:45] week talking about the podcast and [24:47] office of neighborhood safety. We have [24:49] all kinds of local government people [24:51] come in talk about different programs [24:52] that are going on. We have lawyers [24:54] coming on talking about different [24:55] developments in immigration law. We've [24:57] had whole forums where we just talk [24:59] about chemical dependency and youth [25:01] chemical dependency and the programs [25:02] that are available and talking about [25:04] trauma and how to treat trauma. So, [25:07] we've delved into all kinds of areas, [25:09] housing. So, it's it's a really good mix [25:11] of different local folks talking about [25:14] the problems that impact immigrant [25:15] refugees, but also that impact the [25:18] general community. So, [25:19] >> so where do you go to sign up to get on [25:21] like the mailing list for they can email [25:23] me um and I'm happy to provide my email [25:25] address and and we can get them on the [25:27] email list or if they go to the [25:30] Minneapolis Office of Immigrant Refugee [25:32] Affairs website, they also have a link [25:34] for people to kind of sign up for the [25:37] they can get a link to get an email to [25:39] sign up for the forum. [25:40] >> Sounds good. Do you want to do your [25:42] email address? [25:43] >> Sure. Uh, my email address is admundo my [25:45] name e d mu n d o li j oc [25:50] ci st paul.mn [25:55] us. [25:56] >> Thank you. [25:56] >> You're welcome. Thank you. [25:58] >> The city of St. Paul is working to [25:59] rehabilitate, intervene, and provide [26:01] safer neighborhoods. If you'd like to [26:03] learn more about immigration resources, [26:05] please go to [26:06] stpaul.gov/immigration-resources. [26:12] If you'd like to learn more about [26:13] Community First Public Safety and the [26:15] Office of Neighborhood Safety, please [26:16] visit us at stpaul.govs.