BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Melissa Wright in Omaha where the Omaha Police Chief says his officers will not ask for immigration status during encounters with the public only after someone has been arrested.
Chief Todd Schmadder stood side by side with Mayor Jean Stothert assuring neighbors, undocumented or not that their safety is the city's priority.
"Anybody who enters into this community, whether you leave here, live here, visitor— whether your immigration status is a yes or no, you're under the protection of the Omaha police department while we're doing our course of business," said Schmadder
As news came out about trump's new immigration policies over the weekend the mayor and chief say they started talking about the need to send a message especially for neighborhoods with many immigrants.
We are looking to further police community relationships too reduce crime in our community," said Schmadder.
Ariel-Magaña-Linares is an attorney at the Immigration Legal Center. He's telling people that they have rights no matter their immigration status. He also urges families to prepare in advance for anything that could happen.
"Making sure they have somebody that they can trust maybe that person has a temporary delegation of temporary parental authority," said Magaña-Linares."So that that person can make important decisions of whenever the person doesn't have the ability to make those decisions maybe because they are in detention or something else has happened."
Back at City Hall Schmadder said OPD is taking advantage of the situation and working with schools and non-profits as a resource... to build connections while informing them of the department's position. It is also important to know that Schmadder did say the city will work with the federal government to turn over someone that is an immediate threat. In Omaha, I'm Melissa Wright.
