North Wales resident asks council to consider ‘welcoming ordinance’

 The borough could soon start talks on a stance regarding immigration enforcement activities in the township.

North Wales borough council could take up talks on the topic in the coming weeks, after a plea from a resident Tuesday night to consider voicing support for immigrant communities in the wake of bloody headlines out of Minnesota.

“It’s not about ignoring federal law. It’s about clarifying publicly that our local police are here to protect North Wales, not do the job of the federal government,” said resident Tim Clark .

Over the past year, immigration has been hotly debated at the county level, as federal Immigration Customs Enforcement personnel raided facilities in the county, including a raid in which 14 undocumented immigrants were detained in mid-July 2024 at a West Norriton Township supermarket. Following that raid, West Norriton’s commissioners voted last August to enact a new policy limiting local police interaction with federal immigration agents.

Advocates have since urged county officials and those in other municipalities to oppose such federal efforts, and members of Community for Change Montgomery County have said they intend to introduce petitions in all 62 municipalities across the county opposing those federal efforts; a similar motion was put forward in Lansdale Borough last summer, but with little discussion and no action since.

As he spoke in North Wales on Tuesday night, Clark gave council several news articles detailing similar efforts in other municipalities nearby, including Cheltenham and Jenkintown, and asked that North Wales consider their own.

“Each detailed requests made by citizens, and citizen groups of Montgomery County, directly to elected officials like yourselves. Specifically, I’m asking council to consider and ultimately pass a resolution that, one: prohibits our officers from honoring ICE detainers without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, and two: ensures borough staff do not inquire about or disclose immigration status during routine business,” Clark said.

“These, I have learned, are included in what can be called a ‘Welcoming resolution,’” he said.             

In December, advocacy group Community for Change Montgomery County launched an online petition calling on every community in the county to pass similar policies refusing to support federal enforcement efforts. The move to petition municipalities came after county officials said such rules or resolutions needed to be at the local level, according to state law on the roles of county and municipal government.

“This request has been made to all 62 municipalities in Montgomery County, a place that is home to nearly 870,000 people. North Wales Borough, as I’m sure you know, is home to around 3,500 folks,” Clark said.            

“We’re practically a rounding error. So why should a small borough like ours risk the ire of the federal government?” he said.

“I ask that we join our neighbors in Cheltenham and Jenkintown in making it clear, through a welcoming resolution, that all who live, work, and pay taxes in North Wales are welcome, and that they’re protected here,” he said. “If this small borough can demonstrate the courage to do this publicly, it may influence some of our larger neighboring communities to join.”

Council President Mark Tarlecki thanked Clark for raising the topic, and referenced two recent altercations in Minnesota where those protesting, and allegedly obstructing, federal enforcement efforts were shot and killed while doing so

“I think just about everybody here would agree with your comments, after the events of last week. I’m absolutely disgusted by what I saw, and I cannot possibly believe this is happening in the United States, in this day and age,” he said.

“We can’t act on this right now, but we’ll take it under advisement, and (discuss) at a future council meeting. We’d need to draw up a resolution, and we can have a discussion going forward,” he said.

Councilwoman Anji Fazio added thanks to Clark for raising the topic, and said she looked forward to continuing the conversation.

“I want to thanks Tim for coming in and letting us know about what’s happening in other municipalities, and how we might jump on board,” she said.

Junior councilmember Violet Anderson said she and her classmates at North Penn High School are keeping a close eye on the national immigration debate, and said she has a friend who was born in Puerto Rico who is watching the conversation closely.

“Her family live in Lansdale, legally, as U.S. citizens, contributing to the community. And she’s been talking to me about how she’s worried that her family might be detained or hurt by ICE, who have been coming to the Philadelphia suburbs, just because of the way that they look and the fact that they speak Spanish,” Anderson said.

“I think that it’s our job to protect our citizens like that, because their Constitutional right to be here, in America, living our their best life, is being threatened by federal agents who are not following the law,” she said. “My friend, she’s not even 18 yet, and she’s living with this fear that something bad could happen to her and her family, just because of the way she looks,” she said.

Tarlecki said he hoped to take up the topic again in a future meeting, possibly with a formal draft on an agenda to consider. “I don’t care what side of the political fence you’re on, you must be disgusted by what you’ve seen over the past week. That scene occurring, with both of those people being killed, was stunning. I can’t believe that actually happened, here in the United States,” he said.

“I know that the police have to do their job. The immigration enforcement, ICE, are supposed to do their job. I’m not sure why they’re doing it the way they’re doing it, that’s the big question. But nonetheless, American citizens’ rights are being violated. We have the right to protest. We have the right to be safe in our homes, from anybody breaking in without a warrant. These are all in the Constitution, folks, and the fact that we’re somehow disregarding that, is bewildering to me,” Tarlecki said.

North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Feb. 10 at the borough municipal building, 300 School Street. For more information visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.

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