HANOVER — The Selectboard voted unanimously Monday to hold a public hearing about whether to adopt a “Welcoming Hanover” ordinance that would prohibit local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
The decision came after roughly 20 activists with Rise! Upper Valley, a grassroots activist organization, attended their second Selectboard meeting to advocate for the measure.
The ordinance was first proposed at a Selectboard meeting in late January. On Monday, Town Manager Julia Griffin distributed a revised draft that she said was produced in consultation with an attorney for the town as a response to the original proposal.
Several activists shared anecdotes about the fear experienced by people of color in the Upper Valley to highlight the urgency of the measure.
Asma Elhuni, an immigrant activist who helped start Rise!, shared a story about an interaction she had at a Border Patrol traffic stop in the Upper Valley in August 2018.
Elhuni said the officer remarked on her lack of an accent.
Dalia Rodriguez Caspeta graduated from Dartmouth College in 2018 and now lives in Hanover. She said that her parents are undocumented and came to see her walk.
“I didn’t sleep the night before graduation,” she said. “I put them in my boss’s cabin because I was so afraid of people profiling them.”
Kira Kelley, an attorney from Vermont helping push the welcoming ordinance drive in several Upper Valley towns, contended that the ordinance is constitutionally allowed and necessary.
“The police officer, in not passing immigration information to federal immigration authorities, is not violating federal law,” Kelley said, referencing the anti-commandeering doctrine of the 10th amendment.
The most significant change made to the original proposal was the removal of a measure that would require town officials to alert residents if the town became aware of the presence of federal immigration authorities in Hanover.
Griffin said it was the only provision that the town counsel found legally questionable.
Dev Punaini, a Dartmouth sophomore from India, said his home country does not provide ID cards, so if he were to be stopped, he would have to produce his passport.
“I am trying to expand the scope of the people that would benefit from that provision being left in the ordinance,” Punaini said.
The Selectboard was largely silent during the activists’ remarks but member Bill Geraghty raised a concern about implementing the alert system.
“I understand our attorney’s concern about the communication issue. … How would you do it? What’s the practical aspect of it?” he said.
The town charter says an ordinance can be passed by the Selectboard alone if a public hearing is held. Otherwise, supporters can petition to put it on the Town Meeting warrant. The public hearing is scheduled for March 23.
Rohan Chakravarty can be reached at rchakravarty@vnews.com.