BILLINGS — The chants were hard to miss Sunday evening in downtown Billings.
“ICE out!”
A small group with the Billings Alliance for Immigrant Rights gathered on a downtown street corner, calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement in Billings and demanding local leaders establish a sanctuary city.
The group, which has been pressing the Billings City Council on the issue for months, said recent immigration arrests in the community have made its push more urgent.
“We felt it was urgent to hold an emergency rally to demand ICE out of Billings and demand Sanctuary City now,” said Lain Dorsey, who is with the Billings Alliance for Immigrant Rights.
The rally comes days after a father and his young daughter were detained by federal immigration agents outside a United Way of Yellowstone County back-to-school distribution event.
United Way officials have said they did not know the two had been detained until the following day and are now reevaluating security for future events.
For Dorsey and other immigration rights advocates, the incident underscores their concerns about the growing presence of federal immigration agents in Billings.
“We won't accept this in Billings,” Dorsey said. “But as long as this continues, we'll be out here demanding a Sanctuary City and putting pressure on our local officials to make that happen.”
Dorsey said the group has repeatedly asked the city council to meet with them, but has not received a meeting.
The protesters were met with a mixed reaction from passing drivers Sunday. Some honked in support while others expressed disapproval.
Dorsey said the support is encouraging, but the group's larger goal is to build enough public pressure to push city leaders to act.
“What we're really fighting for is to build a real movement that can put pressure on city council to install a sanctuary city so that everybody can be safe,” Dorsey said.
The group says it is fighting for what it calls “legalization for all” and wants immigrants in Billings to be able to live without fear of deportation.
The rally comes amid a broader debate over the role of federal immigration enforcement in Montana.
Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines has defended federal immigration enforcement, saying in a recent Fox News interview that the country is safer because of federal law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Paul Pope, a political science professor at Montana State University Billings, told MTN News last week that the rapid expansion of immigration enforcement has raised questions about training and due process.
“We've seen people deported who have not actually violated any laws,” Pope said.
He also raised concerns that law enforcement training has been curtailed as federal agencies work to put more agents on the streets.
Dorsey said the Billings Alliance for Immigrant Rights plans to continue organizing until the city establishes a sanctuary city.
“We'll continue to be out here until immigrants in our community do not have to fear that they'll be deported by ICE or Border Patrol and that they can actually live a life of dignity where they don't have to live in fear,” Dorsey said.
The group holds planning meetings Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. at the Billings Public Library and says everyone is welcome to attend.
