I condemn the hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric included in the program NOFO, but most importantly, I do not trust the purpose of funding outlined in the notice of funding opportunity.
Dear neighbor,
At yesterday’s council meeting, we took action on 61 items. Among the items that were discussed was a grant application from the Trump Department of Justice for the National Integrated Ballistic Information (NIBIN) Modernization Program. While council voted 7-5 to move this forward, it will require nine votes to eventually accept the grant.
My opposition to this grant is not just about words. The NIBIN Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) explicitly states the program’s statutory purpose and program goals in terms of investigating “crimes committed by illegal aliens,” and further describes its authorizing statute as providing funding to “locate” and apprehend “aliens” who have committed crimes and are “unlawfully present” in the United States.
The Minneapolis Police Department said that there were no alternative funding sources available to support the necessary system upgrades required to maintain access. This is not true. The city council has already passed an off-duty work ordinance designed to recoup fees from officers who use City resources for off-duty work. These are fees that could reduce the burden on taxpayers. For some reason, that ordinance has not been implemented. Before I accept that we have no choice but to sign this agreement with the Trump administration, I would like to understand why a council-approved tool that could address funding problems has not been put to use. We could have already been recouping off-duty fees. The refusal to implement this ordinance means our residents are subsidizing side gigs for MPD. There could have been other ways to fund this system.
It is worth mentioning, too, that the statute this NOFO operates under is titled the Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide (BIDEN) Reimbursement Fund.
I believe that we have a duty to ensure that applying for and accepting federal funds does not lend the City’s name, resources, or partnership to a funding framework that dehumanizes and stigmatizes immigrant residents of Minneapolis, or make our communities feel targeted. The NOFO explicitly lists immigration law enforcement operations among the granting agency’s stated funding priorities. I do not accept the premise, implicit or explicit in this or any federal funding instrument, that immigrant residents are a threat to public safety requiring “locating and apprehending.”
I condemn the hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric included in the program NOFO, but most importantly, I do not trust the purpose of funding outlined in the notice of funding opportunity. I am thankful to my colleagues who joined me in coming out against this grant application: Council President Payne, and Council Members Wonsley, Stevenson, Chughtai, and Chowdhury. Again, it will require nine votes from council in the future to accept the grant funds and we could find a different source to fund it.
Sincerely,
Jason Chavez
Via constituent newsletter
How long is it going to take for Minneapolis to return to the vibrant city it once was? I hate to say it, but it’s unrecoverable if the DSA keeps making gains on the city council.
How do people end up voting for this? Correct the mistake!
Every vote this DSA aligned group on the council makes about anything and everything, related to public safety and policing, is simply this….nothing more.
Wonsley reveals hidden agenda to defund MPD: “but you don’t frame it in that way, you don’t talk about it publicly” | Minneapolis Times
https://minneapolistimes.com/wonsley-confesses-to-hidden-agenda-to-defund-mpd-but-you-dont-frame-it-in-that-way-you-dont-talk-about-it-publicly/