Ferndale Adopts ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Immigration Policy

FERNDALE, MI — City officials in Ferndale sent an affirmative message to immigrants Monday with a new policy that effectively states that residents’ immigration status is no one’s business but their own — unless obtaining that information is required by law. The new policy is in response to hard lines drawn by President Trump against undocumented immigrants and immigrants and refugees in seven majority Muslim nations.

The city of Royal Oak sent a similar message Monday by becoming an official Welcoming City, joining the nonprofit group Welcoming Michigan, which is part of the Welcoming America initiative. The measure affirms the city as “a place where all foreign-born and native-born Americans can live, work, and play together, share in each other’s customs and ideals, and appreciate and promote cultural diversity.”

Ferndale previously had adopted 21st Century policing models that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity and immigration status, among other things.

Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter said the new policy adopted Monday is aimed at calming fears among immigrants unnerved by Trump’s policies, The Daily Tribune reported.

“We’ve learned many immigrants fear interacting with police and officials in cities because of their status as immigrants,” Coulter said. “Unless a person’s immigration status is related to an issue they are reporting we are not going to question their status.”

See Also

• Royal Oak a ‘Welcoming City’ For Immigrants, Refugees
• Hundreds March in Detroit ‘Day Without Immigrants’ Rally

Ferndale City Councilman Dan Martin proposed the new policy.

“This isn’t about fixing something that is broken within our city or police department,” he said in a statement. “It’s about Ferndale being a city you’re welcome in. You are safe to report crimes and approach our law enforcement, and you are safe as a resident or visitor.”

Other Michigan members of the Welcoming America network include the communities of Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Clinton Township, Detroit, East Lansing, Hamtramck, Lansing, Meridian, Sterling Heights and West Bloomfield; the counties of Macomb and Kalamazoo; and the Michigan Office for New Americans.

More on the Welcoming America initiative is found here. More on Welcoming Michigan is found here.

Photo by Alisdare Hickson via Flickr Commons