Testimony by Tom Moore

Before the Rockville Mayor and Council

Regarding the Role of the Rockville Police Department
in the Enforcement of Federal Immigration Laws
March 6, 2017

Thank you for the opportunity to testify tonight. My name is Tom Moore, and I
live at 11 Forest Avenue in Rockville. It's good to be back here to speak on this
very important topic.

I want to start off by expressing my appreciation to Councilmember Julie

Palakovich Carr for her leadership on this issue. I would like to think that if I were
on the Council at this moment in history, I would be as brave as she has been to
stand up for what's right.

In considering this matter, the City of Rockville has the opportunity to send a
strong signal to its most vulnerable citizens that their City will work in their
interest. This moment also provides the Mayor and Council the opportunity to tell
taxpayers that it is making sure that City funds are spent on City business.

The Supreme Court has made it clear since the 1840s that the Constitution
prohibits the federal government from commandeering the resources of state
and local governments to carry out federal law. And that's why the City of
Rockville has long had a policy to follow federal law, but not to do the federal
government's job for it. That mforrnal policy has worked until now. But the most
recent election has made it clear that an informal policy is no longer enough.

The president said last month that he wants to hire 15,000 additional federal
border agents and immigration officers to carry out his federal immigration
policies. It's his right to propose that, and it's his job to try to get the Congress to
fund that.

But he has no right whatsoever to require the City of Rockville - or any other
jurisdiction - to do the federal government's work for it. It doesn't matter what or
how much he threatens. The President of the United States does not have that
right.
In moving forward, there's a question of whether the City should pass a law, a
resolution, or a policy. I call upon you to pass a law, which will provide the most
durable protection and send the strongest possible signal to Rockville's residents.

That signal needs to be sent. My heart broke when I heard third-hand of the little
kids at Twinbrook Elementary who were afraid to go to school after the election
because they were worried that their parents would be deported by the time they
got home from school.

But I was positively alarmed when I heard directly from the principal of another
Rockville elementary school that on top of that, an African-American child at her
school had come to her, terrified that slavery was going to make a comeback as a
result of this election. A second child at that school had expressed the same
concern to her teacher.

This is not normal. This is a moment in American history the likes of which none of
us have ever seen, and we must respond accordingly, whether it's in the Rockville
Mayor and Council chambers or on the streets of the capital.

This is not the moment for informal protections for Rockville's children and
Rockville's families. This is not a moment for a mere expression of the opinion of
the Mayor and Council. This is not a moment to give mere guidance about
administrative functions in the City.

We are a nation of laws, and this is a moment to pass a law. A law that says that
the City of Rockville will protect - not punish - those who call upon it for help. A
law that tells the terrified children in Rockville that this City will play no part in
deporting their parents, no part in destroying their families. A law that best
protects City taxpayer funds. A law that says: We stand for all of our families. We
stand for all of our children.

This is the moment for the Rockville Mayor and Council to pass a law that tells the
world: This is not us. We will not allow this. Not in Rockville.

Thank you.

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