WASHINGTON, D.C.—Councilmember Nadeau made the following remarks today at a Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety hearing on MPD’S collaboration with ICE and federal law enforcement immigration activities in the District.

I want to thank everyone who is here today—residents, advocates, legal experts, and community organizations. I know how exhausting and frightening the last several months have been, and the fact that you’re all here speaks to how serious this issue is, and how it affects the lives of so many people in our city. 

Since September, the Mayor has repeatedly told the public that MPD “is no longer cooperating with federal immigration officials.” But that is not what people in our communities have seen with their eyes and experienced. At the Roundtable on Human Rights held by the Committee on Public Works & Operations, which I chair, residents reported – and they continue to report – MPD presence with ICE and federal agents, MPD sharing information with ICE, and MPD officers assisting in immigration civil arrests simply due to an individual’s race and/or ethnicity, national origin, or unhoused status. These are traits protected under the D.C. Human Rights Act and actions that violate the Sanctuary Values Act. 

Mayor Bowser and her administration have escalated the harm occurring in our neighborhoods from this federal intrusion. People are afraid. They’re angry. And they deserve straight answers, not carefully worded press statements and deceit.  

Just yesterday, a federal judge confirmed what many of our residents have already lived: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been carrying out warrantless civil immigration arrests in D.C., without meeting even the bare minimum legal requirements. The judge described it as “arrest first, ask questions later,” and ruled these practices unlawful.  

The ruling is 88 pages long, but its core message is simple and devastating: federal agents tearing through DCW neighborhoods is unlawful. It violates Due Process and federal law. The Mayor and MPD leadership refuse to acknowledge the full extent of what has happened under their watch.  

Before I continue, I’d like to address a public comment made by one of my colleagues suggesting that some of us on Council “aren’t taking action” or aren’t “offering solutions” to keep young people safe. But I have to be honest: those comments land very differently when this same government is not being truthful with the public about MPD’s ongoing cooperation with ICE. 

Because how can anyone take these safety arguments seriously when on the most basic question — “Is MPD working with federal immigration agents or not?” — no clear or truthful answer is given, even months after?  

We’re asked to trust the Executive’s judgment on curfews for kids while at the same time we watch MPD hide details about federal agents shooting at person during traffic stops–all while the Mayor insists none of this is happening. 

Because if the Executive can mislead residents about immigration enforcement—something that separates families and traumatizes children—then why should those same residents believe any assurances being given about how a curfew will be implemented, who will be stopped, and which communities will bear the brunt? 

So, no. I won’t be going along on this curfew legislation when MPD has lost the trust of the community and the Executive refuses to be honest about its cooperation with ICE and won’t put an end to it.