Cambridge Officials Condemn ICE Actions in Minnesota, Reaffirm Sanctuary Policies

Top Cambridge officials on Monday condemned recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota and warned that the intensifying immigration crackdown threatened public safety and local autonomy.

City Manager Yi-An Huang addressed the City Council with updates on multiple immigration-related lawsuits involving Cambridge, situating the city’s legal strategy within broader opposition to recent federal enforcement activity.

Huang began the meeting by decrying ICE actions in Minnesota, referencing the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by ICE agents on Saturday.

“I’ve been really horrified by the tragic second killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis,” he said. “An occupying force does not belong in our communities or anywhere in the United States of America, and these unconstitutional and unnecessary actions are making us less safe.”

The Department of Homeland Security has said that federal agents fired in self-defense after Pretti allegedly approached them with a handgun and resisted, but videos circulating show that he never drew the weapon and had been disarmed before agents fired at him.

Cambridge has signed onto an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit filed by the state of Minnesota against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The suit seeks an injunction that would limit ICE raids in Minnesota.

Though the presiding judge did not rule on the request for an injunction during a Monday hearing, Huang noted that the court expressed urgency in reaching a decision.

Huang also referenced several other immigration-related cases in which Cambridge is a plaintiff. In those cases — including one led by San Francisco that the city joined in August — judges have ruled in the city’s favor, temporarily protecting Cambridge’s access to federal funding amid ongoing challenges to its sanctuary status.

“We are certainly wanting to continue to be in close conversation with this City Council — with our community — about how we’re preparing actions that we can take and following and supporting communities around the country that are struggling with what the federal government is doing,” Huang said.

Cambridge first adopted its sanctuary city policy in 1985, limiting cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities, and doubled down on the policy last August in the face of recent federal pressure.

U.S. President Donald Trump first directed the DHS to withhold funding from sanctuary cities in 2017. Although courts later ruled that the federal government could not condition funding on local immigration enforcement, similar disputes have persisted.

At the beginning of his second term, Trump signed two executive orders renewing those funding threats. In June, the Department of Homeland Security accused Cambridge, and more than 200 other jurisdictions, of “defying federal immigration law.”

City councilors expressed concern about the ongoing federal challenges facing Cambridge on Monday, and said they were open to revisiting the Welcoming City Ordinance to ensure it remained effective.

“Our welcoming ordinance is quite strong, but we can always look at it to see if we can improve it,” Councilor Patricia M. Nolan ’80 said.

Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui added that Cambridge was prepared to reassess and strengthen its local protections.

“These are really challenging times, and sometimes it feels like there are more questions than answers,” Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said.

“In the weeks to come, I know that this Council will prioritize that and prioritize whatever we can do to get more clarity, get more answers, and strengthen what we already have,” she added.

—Staff writer Risha Sinha can be reached at [email protected].