Immigration outreach, other measures approved

IOWA CITY - The City Council wants Iowa City to take steps to be friendlier to immigrants, but those will not equate to establishing a so-called sanctuary city policy.

The council, meeting in a work session Monday night, agreed to follow some recommendations made by the city's Human Rights Commission.

Those include:

- Clarifying city policy to allow a government-issued identification card to be used to get city services when a driver's license is typically requested.

- Use Human Rights Commission resources to hold public forums on immigration issues

- Have a subcommittee of the commission study whether a new city committee focused on immigrant concerns is needed

- Encourage public outreach to immigrant communities by city departments.

Immigration policies first came up early this year when the city was asked to adopt sanctuary city status, which typically means city employees do not ask about immigration status or enforce federal immigration laws.

But the council thought such a policy would be ineffective because of a federal program called Secure Communities, which has been implemented in Johnson County. It requires that the fingerprints of someone booked into jail are checked against federal immigration records. That means Iowa City participates in immigration investigations.

The Human Rights Commission had recommended that the City Council adopt an ordinance similar to one in Minneapolis that says that while the city works cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “the city does not operate its programs for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws.”

City staff and council members said that could send a confusing message given the city's participation in the Secure Communities program.