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Helena’s City Commission held a marathon special meeting on Thursday, March 26 to discuss the Attorney General’s March 10th letter informing them that they were in violation of state law concerning sanctuary cities. Resolution 21062 passed a commission vote 4-1 and drew a vocal response from numerous Helena citizens who did not want to become a sanctuary for criminal illegal aliens.

The meeting, held in the Helena Civic Center, started at 5:30 pm and ended near midnight. The Commission voted 1-4 to rescind the declaration. The main reason for the rescission was the financial burden placed on the city should it choose to challenge the Attorney General in court. A case the city would likely lose and then be burdened with fines accumulating to thousands of dollars per day while the sanctuary declaration remained in effect. Also at risk would be those funds tied to grants from the state or federal government.

Citizens of Helena were provided three minutes per person to provide testimony. In person and online comments were allowed.

During the meeting Commissioner Melinda Reed began to read out numerous amendments she intended to bring to attempt to make the sanctuary resolution comply with state law. Reed had independently coordinated with outside groups ahead of the meeting, as evidenced by select people in the audience already having printed copies of her proposed amendments. Sentinel sources were able to borrow the amendment document and take a picture. The end result of the amendments would mean, if adopted, Reed could claim she did something, but the resolution would have no real meaning other than to cost Helena taxpayers millions of dollars. Helena residents are questioning if this coordination violates Montana’s open meeting laws.

The work on this resolution has already accounted for 1,000 hours worth of taxpayer funded “work.”

What next?

The recission of the current resolution does not mean the city intends to stop pursuing another one is some form. The recommendations from the legal team were to rescind this resolution, then engage with the Governor and Attorney General to determine what kind of resolution would be legal. The expectation is that the city will try again in 30-45 days if they are able to find a way forward that does not violate state law.

Meanwhile, sanctuary cities across the country are riddle with rampant crime and are, unfortunately, complicit in supporting criminal organizations who helped make over 300,000 unaccompanied minor children disappear into America’s criminal underworld. See report at the bottom.

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