As immigration enforcement continues to intensify nationally, a split has surfaced at Providence City Hall among top elected officials over how much they should be publicizing their support for undocumented residents.
While Mayor Brett P. Smiley has gone out of his way to avoid calling Providence a “sanctuary city” in part because of the blowback it could invite from President Donald Trump, the City Council is now taking a completely different strategy.
On June 25, the council launched a “Know Your Rights” campaign, an outreach effort consisting of postcards mailed to every city household, with instructions in English and Spanish on how to respond during run-ins with immigration enforcement officers.
In a new release publicizing the mailers, the council lashed out at the Trump administration, saying the “Know Your Rights” campaign is “in direct response to the brutal and unconstitutional enforcement tactics” instituted since Trump took office in January.
“The council stands together to say immigrants are welcome here and to encourage every member of our community to educate themselves about their constitutional rights and where to find help if they need it,” said Council President Rachel Miller.
For his part, Smiley has left unchanged the city’s policy not to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on immigration prosecutions or arrests that don’t involve a federal criminal warrant.
But the mayor hasn’t exactly embraced the council’s “Know Your Rights” mailing, noting in a public statement that the council members had taken it upon themselves to “use some of their discretionary funds to do this mailer.”
At the same time, he refrained from being directly critical of their actions.
“The mayor understands that right now there is widespread fear and concern in the immigrant community,” said the statement from Smiley’s office. “Mayor Smiley shares the deep concerns of our neighbors, and his number one priority remains keeping Providence a safe, welcoming community for all – regardless of immigration status.”
The Providence City Council’s “Know Your Rights” campaign for undocumented residents is part of a broader movement nationwide in which cities are organizing informational sessions and publishing ads on immigration rights. But Providence may have been the first to take the high-profile step of mailing immigration-rights postcards to every household.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many 6-by-11-inch placards would be delivered and how much the mailings cost. The council partnered with more than a dozen immigration, labor and advocacy organizations to design the card, which includes 24/7 help phone lines.
Ward 14 City Councilor Shelley Peterson, who was one of the members who pushed hard for the campaign, says she can understand why the mayor would not want to put the city in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
“But right now, it’s more important to let our residents know we have their back,” she said. “Even if others are pivoting or noncommittal, the council is staying the course.”
While there has been no immediate response from the Trump administration, Miller says she has experienced some backlash from some members of the public.
She said she was “genuinely speechless” about the negative responses, noting that her email inbox has been flooded with angry messages telling her that she and the other council members should be imprisoned for attempting to aid the undocumented.
Miller isn’t backing down.
“All we did was mail out placards, and we had broad support for it in the council,” she said. “It’s been in motion for a while now. We made it well known what we’re doing.”
