"In late September, Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) stopped Jose Bonilla Lopez, a gardener who lived in the city's northwest. According to a police report, it was a case of mistaken identity. Instead of releasing him, they turned him over to masked federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, who seized him as neighbors chanted for his freedom."
"More than 40 local organizations say MPD's cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violates D.C.'s Sanctuary Values Amendment Act, which bars police from transferring individuals to federal immigration authorities unless they are awaiting trial or sentencing for a federal criminal charge or are serving a federal criminal sentence. Even after an executive order authorizing such cooperation expired in September, MPD continued the practice."
Community members protested ICE presence and demanded virtual hearings at a courthouse in Providence. In Washington, D.C., MPD stopped Jose Bonilla Lopez and handed him to masked federal agents instead of releasing him after a reported mistaken identity. The following day MPD detained a vehicle passenger, Mayker Enrique Salas-Araujo, and transferred him to a Homeland Security agent outside a school, alarming students. More than 40 local organizations contend MPD's actions violate the Sanctuary Values Amendment Act. An executive order authorizing cooperation expired in September, yet MPD continued transfers while mayoral statements asserted no local involvement in immigration enforcement.
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