Helena commission lacks consensus for immigration next steps

The Helena City Commission has been unable to reach a consensus on how to proceed with an immigration resolution for the city’s police department after the state’s attorney general said he would again challenge such a measure if the commission tries to redraft a policy.

Earlier this month, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen declined the city’s invitation to collaborate on a revised version of an immigration resolution after the commission voted to rescind its original version in March. 

Since then, each member of the commission had planned to meet individually with the city’s outside legal counsel, Missoula attorney Natasha Jones, to discuss how to move forward, City Attorney Rebecca Dockter said at an administrative meeting last week. By meeting separately with Jones, without a quorum of its members, the commission was not required to abide by public meeting standards.

During a city meeting Monday evening, Dockter updated the commission on the results of those private conversations and said there was no consensus on the city’s next steps whether to proceed with a reworked resolution.

“So, therefore, there is no action planned at this time, but I will just tell you that there is no deadline, no statute of limitations on the actions that you could take in response,” Dockter said.

The update sparked confusion during the meeting, notably from Commissioner Melinda Reed, who said “it was not clear” that the members were supposed to weigh in on their preferred next steps during their one-on-one discussion with Jones. Reed said that she had been under the impression that the commission would discuss how to proceed during Monday’s meeting. 

Dockter responded that the discussions had involved “a recommended action” laid out by Jones and that there was “no consensus,” meaning that the majority, or three out of the five commissioners, didn’t agree on how to proceed. She said that was as much detail as she could give without “divulging attorney-client privilege.” During the public meeting, Dockter did not specify what the recommended action was.

Reed said she was “disappointed” in the process and would seek the support of at least two other commissioners, the required number, to put the topic up for public discussion at an upcoming city meeting. 

The commission voted in March to rescind its previous resolution stating that the Helena Police Department would “avoid” assisting federal authorities in immigration enforcement, would not disclose a person’s place of birth or immigration status and would request that federal officers not wear masks. The commission also voted to revise the resolution and seek the attorney general’s input. During that meeting, Mayor Emily Dean said that by approving those two actions, the city was “pressing pause” and mitigating risk to strategically move forward.   

Knudsen was unmoved.

“Although I appreciate the City’s offer to work together on its next foray into immigration matters, it rests upon a fundamental misunderstanding about Montana law and the role of the Attorney General,” Knudsen stated in an April written response. “So let me take this opportunity to disabuse the City (and other localities) of the notion that compliance with Montana’s anti-sanctuary city law is a collaborative enterprise … Should the City choose to waste additional taxpayer resources by adopting another ordinance, my office will evaluate that policy for compliance with state law.”

Members of the public have generally urged the commission to stand by the resolution it originally passed in January and not give in to pressure from the attorney general’s office to dissuade local governments from passing resolutions and ordinances regarding interaction with federal law enforcement.

With the commission’s closed-door conversations with Jones blocking clarity on possible next steps, Montana Free Press reached out to each city commissioner to ask what they would like to see moving forward regarding a revised version of the immigration policy. 

Commissioner Sean Logan told MTFP that he didn’t want to proceed with a revised immigration policy if it meant spending more money on a prolonged legal action that would pit the city against the attorney general.

“ Relative to the resolution itself, my opinion is that we have spent, gosh, I think we’re probably safely, at this point, at around $100,000 on the resolution,” Logan said during a Tuesday phone call. “ That’s a lot of money … Anything moving forward is gonna be litigious, and consequently, there’s going to be more legal fees associated with it. … So bottom line, I’m just not comfortable spending more money.”

In a series of emails, Mayor Dean told MTFP that, among the options discussed with Jones, there was no single choice that the majority of the commission preferred. Dean also declined to comment on what those options were. 

“I’m not going to comment on the legal options put forward by outside counsel,” Dean said in an email to MTFP. “Sharing legal advice limits the City’s ability to be effective when it is broadcast publicly, including to opposing parties, and limits the City’s ability to defend itself.

“I truly value the public’s interest in this issue and am cognizant that legal matters must be carefully considered,” Dean added.

Reed, in a Tuesday phone interview with MTFP, said she was frustrated by the delay and emphasized the importance of discussions about public policy taking place in a public setting.

“ I think it is important that we continue to have these discussions in public, given both the level of public interest and the fact that this is a resolution we are talking about and that is our job as a commission,” Reed said. 

Reed also said that the public is left to assume there “wasn’t enough motivation” to move a resolution forward, contrary to the urging of members of the public. Several local residents expressed those views to the commission on Monday evening, pressing the commission to progress toward a workable resolution that would limit how the city’s police department works with federal immigration officers. 

Asked if she would support an updated resolution, even if it risks a lawsuit brought by the attorney general’s office, Reed told MTFP that those are “all worth discussion and considering.”

Contacted by MTFP by phone and text, Commissioners Ben Rigby and Julia Gustafson declined to comment about how the commission should proceed.

Constance Van Kley, an assistant professor at the University of Montana’s Alexander Blewett III School of Law, told MTFP that the Montana sanctuary jurisdiction law, which Knudsen argued the original resolution violated, gives the attorney general’s office “significant authority” to seek penalties against local governments that don’t comply. 

Van Kley added that it “makes sense” that local jurisdictions, like a commission, would keep litigation discussions private, given the possibility of a state lawsuit.  

Van Kley added that a municipality, like Helena, could also bring a lawsuit against the attorney general’s office. But in that case, Van Kley said, there would need to be a clear conflict between city policy and the attorney general’s interpretation of state law.