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Royal Oak city leaders host ICE town hall
Residents got the chance to sound off on ICE in Royal Oak in a townhall with city leaders on Thursday.
ROYAL OAK Mich. (FOX 2) - On Thursday residents gathered at Royal Oak City Hall to learn more about their rights when it comes to ICE.
Why you should care:
It's a hot button issue ever since two people were shot and killed by ice agents during two separate incidents in Minneapolis last month.
Democrat State Representative Natalie Price spoke about the chance for everyone to get a chance to be heard.
"We've been doing these community conversations in town halls throughout my district," she said. "It's an opportunity for all community members, whether they live in my district or not, to come and talk about issues that feel relevant and important to our communities.
"Our theme tonight for this town hall is mutual aid. And it's following a town hall we did last month that was on knowing your rights. Making sure that folks in our communities know their rights, know how to respond when they are feeling threatened by ICE or any other sort of federal overreach into our communities."
FOX 2: "I know we have not seen ice agents prevalent here, but you spent time in Minneapolis. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because I think that's important to our viewers. You were there at the height of it. Tell us what you saw."
"I went to Minneapolis four weeks ago to stand in solidarity with Minnesota reps and senators to bear witness, to learn from what they're doing. And I got to meet with organizers on the ground and mutual aid was what everyone was talking about finding ways for members of the community to show up and support each other," she said. "We know that we keep ourselves safe. We protect ourselves in our own communities.
"That is why I am calling to defund ICE and fully fund police, firefighters, schools, infrastructure, community violence intervention. We know what keeps our communities safe. It is not ICE. It is ourselves and our own community resources."
FOX 2: "We know the tragedy that happened in Minneapolis with the two people shot and killed by ice agents. Some people are worried. What what do you tell them?"
"Tell them to show up in community. Find these great organizations that have a history of doing the work," she said. "We are gonna have organizations here tonight that specialize in mutual aid and have been for a long time. So we've got the People's Assembly out of Detroit, Cafe out of Pontiac, a great group called the Time Bank.
"They know how to create the infrastructure for community members to show up, support each other, and get to know each other. And that's what's going to make our community stronger and safer. And that's what it's all about."
The Source: Information for this report is from an interview with Democrat State Rep. Natalie Price.