An ordinance that prohibits local or federal law enforcement officers from wearing face masks, except in dangerously cold weather, passed the Milwaukee Common Council Tuesday. The measure is part of a package the council considered under the heading “ICE Out Milwaukee”.
CBS 58 reported that there was support for the policy change even from the police union. This comes in response to the recent federal immigration crackdown in Democratic-led cities including Minneapolis and Chicago, where agents dressed in military-style tactical gear and wearing masks made arrests or used force against immigrants, protesters and bystanders. In Minneapolis, two U.S. citizens were killed by federal immigration agents during confrontations. Agents who shot another man in the leg were later found to have lied about the events leading up to the non-fatal shooting.
The ICE Out Milwaukee package was pushed by a group of Milwaukee alders after these events raised anxieties among area residents. Ald. Alex Brower told the Wisconsin Examiner that after a huge crowd attended a town hall on immigration, he realized Milwaukeeans wanted to see local government do something, anything, to protect residents from immigration enforcement.
WISN 12 News reported that the vote on the mask ordinance was delayed last month because of City Attorney Evan Goyke’s concerns that it might not be enforceable. But last week, Goyke sent a letter to the council saying it was legal.
“I do want to thank City Attorney Evan Goyke, who he and his team, worked very hard, very diligently. They were committed to getting to yes, in my opinion,” alder JoCasta Zamarripa told WISN-12.
Alds. Brower, Marina Dimitrijevic, Zamarripa and José Perez, who is the common council president, all supported the measure.
