St. Paul advances tougher limits on ICE actions

The St. Paul City Council has introduced a new immigration ordinance that would tighten the city’s long‑standing non‑cooperation stance with federal immigration enforcement and spell out how police and other employees must respond when ICE shows up. Introduced March 27 and set for a second reading April 1, the measure would ban using city‑owned property for federal civil immigration actions, sharply limit federal access to non‑public city spaces, and require federal agents on city sites to show visible identification and insignia while prohibiting masks. It also orders St. Paul police — and the fire department where relevant — to submit annual reports on calls tied to civil immigration enforcement and creates an internal system for any city worker to document immigration‑related activity on city property, lots or in city vehicles. Council members say the policy, drafted with multiple departments, is a direct response to the November 2025 Payne‑Phalen ICE raid, where St. Paul officers fired pepper balls and chemical irritants at residents who gathered, and to community demands for clearer rules and more transparency. If enacted, the ordinance would hard‑code separation from ICE deeper into the Administrative Code and put the city’s own conduct around federal operations on a paper trail residents can later scrutinize.