Omaha Mayor John Ewing Junior issues a statement on Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Omaha on Tuesday:
"We are aware that ICE is raiding Omaha businesses and detaining people. We do not know yet the scope of this federal action today but want to share the information we do have and let the public know what our role is here.
First, the city is not in the business of immigration enforcement. That is the purview of the federal government.
Omaha Police Department policy is not, and I repeat, is not to determine the immigration status of an individual.
Our Omaha police officers do not and will not seek individuals to check their legal status.
OPD was on scene today to assist in traffic control and public safety in areas near their operations.
The Department of Homeland Security had alerted OPD that some sort of immigration action would occur today.
We had asked for that coordination after the recent incident at Early Bird.
Second, we are in fact gathering mode.
I am trying to get to the bottom of what happened today.
While we knew an enforcement action would take place, we were not privy to details.
Third, we know that actions like these affect families. My administration is working with community groups to understand the scale of need.
Fourth, what happened today causes fear in our community. We do not want people to be so afraid they stop reporting crimes.
Our Omaha Police Department will respond to 911 calls and not ask about legal status.
We will seek more information from the federal government about today’s raids and will share that once we get it.
(Picture from City of Omaha)