HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026 February Racial Covenant and Action Day2. The council calls on the United States Congress to not provide any additional funding
for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") without including meaningful and significant
guardrails to rein in the agency and how it operates in communities.
3. The council expresses support for guardrails to be included in any funding bill for DHS that would:
A.) End lawless enforcement including by requiring DHS to get a warrant, stop using masked agents
for immigration enforcement actions, stop the targeting of people based on their race, language or
accent, place of employment, or location at the time of the apprehension, and prohibiting
enforcement at sensitive locations like daycares and schools, houses of worship, and hospitals;
B.) End detention abuses by ending the use of private, for -profit detention prisons, prohibiting
funding for facilities that threaten the health, safety, or due process rights of detained people, and
restoring access to bond hearings;
C.) Preserve the ability of local and state jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute potential crimes
and use of excessive force incidents. Require that evidence is preserved and shared with jurisdictions.
D.) Require the consent of States and localities to conduct large-scale operations outside of
targeted immigration enforcement.
4. The council calls on Congress to make deep and meaningful cuts to the $170 billion in funding given to
DHS in the OBBBA and redirect those funds to urgent needs like housing and healthcare.
5. The council calls on Congress to deliberate a plan to restructure DHS to bring more accountability to
this sprawling agency, to ensure that the Department's essential national security and public safety
functions, including cyber security and emergency management, can be separated from immigration
enforcement, and to completely rebuild immigration enforcement agencies from the ground up to stop
the culture of lawlessness and ensure guardrails and accountability.
6. The clerk of the council is directed to send a copy of this motion to each member of the Minnesota
congressional delegation.
Passed this 9tn day of February 2026
Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
PROCLAMATION
Racial Covenant Awareness and Action Day
Discriminatory covenants were used from the early 1900s through the 1960s to prevent
people of color and non-Christian individuals from buying or occupying property in certain
areas, including in the City of Columbia Heights. These covenants were part of a deliberate
system designed to promote residential segregation and perpetuate systemic inequities in
housing access. The harm caused by these practices has left a legacy in our community with
effects still evident in property values, mortgage eligibility, rental opportunities, and other
aspects of community development.
The Mapping Prejudice Project has played a critical role in uncovering and documenting
the extent of discriminatory covenants in the Twin Cities region, including within Anoka
County, helping communities confront this history and better understand its ongoing
impacts.
Over the past year, the City of Columbia Heights has taken meaningful steps to move
beyond acknowledgment toward action by engaging in efforts to educate the public about
racial covenants, examining local policies and practices through an equity lens, supporting
fair housing initiatives, and strengthening partnerships with community organizations
committed to advancing racial equity and inclusion.
The City recognizes that addressing the legacy of racial covenants requires sustained
commitment, transparency, and continued collaboration to dismantle systemic barriers and
ensure equitable access to housing and opportunity for all residents.
Now therefore, I, Amada Marquez Simula Mayor of the City of Columbia Heights, do
hereby proclaim February 9, 2026, as Racial Covenant Awareness and Action Day in
Columbia Heights, and call upon residents, businesses, educators, and community partners
to recommit to the ongoing work of advancing racial equity, inclusion, and justice in our
community.
c
A zada Marquez Si la, Mayor
February 9, 2026