by Deb and Joe Fitzgerald

In a Harrisonburg City Council discussion Wednesday of ICE activities in the city, council member Nasser Alsaadun, an Iraqi-American immigrant, made a heartfelt personal statement about what it means when Immigration and Customs Enforcement seizes a city resident.

“I wanted to thank council members, Mayor Reed and the City manager, for having the courage actually to make movements towards our people, and as an immigrant, I feel the pain when they take you away from your family. I have a friend who has been detained and taken from his family and his daughter, nine years old, for more than three weeks or more. She still cries every single day, and is asking everyone, ‘Why? What did my father do?’

“And I know him, he’s a great man, he has a PhD and no criminal record, and he’s working hard. He wants just to be a peaceful person with his family, with his kids here. He’s taking his education and obeying the law and paying his taxes and everything. Just he wants to be safe with his family. That’s all. And in return, he was treated inhumanely. Why? For nothing?

“Is that something that’s too much, to be treated as a human? Is that too much? We know that this country is well known for human rights and how people are treated, and all other countries are looking at this country as a role model. So, we ask that people who are ICE agents be trained in how to treat people. This person is not a criminal, so he has to be treated in the way that he deserves. So, my last word is that we as a city can stand with all these individuals, with all their families and that we stand with them as much as we can.”

Alsaadun’s statement was part of an agenda item listed as “Discussion Regarding Communications to Federal Representatives Related to Community Safety.” No details were included about the agenda item in advance and no public comment was heard during the discussion. Mayor Deanna Reed and Vice Mayor Dany Fleming read prepared statements, but Alsaadun’s comments came closest to describing the need for a response to ICE activities locally as part of attacks on the immigrant community ordered by President Trump.

“We can no longer be silent when our residents are living in fear,” Mayor Reed said. “As leaders, our moral obligation is to protect all who live here. And to use our voice to call for justice. Harrisonburg is a community of hope, of welcome and of courage. And that is who we aspire and will continue to be. … We’re trying to at least let our community numbers know that we stand with them and that we are not supporting what is happening to them, almost daily, in our city.”

No prepared resolution was presented, but Fleming asked City Manager Ande Banks to “draw up a response from the city council reflecting our concerns.” It was not clear if the response, directed at state and federal elected officials, would be brought back to the council for approval at a later meeting.

Reed closed by challenging the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors to take similar action.

“I also want to reach out to the Board of Supervisors. Harrisonburg and Rockingham County border on each other. And so I’m going to challenge our colleagues in the county to do the same, because we need to protect individuals, no matter if they’re in the city or if they’re in a town.”

Joe Fitzgerald is a journalist and former mayor of Harrisonburg. This column has been republished with permission from his blog Still Not Sleeping.