At a public meeting in the Village Hall on Feb. 10, the Dobbs Ferry Board of Trustees approved a resolution condemning the recent violence from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and petitioning local and federal representatives to recall, reform and investigate ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“The Board of Trustees believes that these tactics and practices by ICE and CBP have violated the constitutional rights of residents of our communities and are contrary to best practices and therefore detrimental to otherwise appropriate and effective law enforcement,” the resolution read.

The resolution, initially proposed to the Board by a former trustee of the Village of Ardsley, passed unanimously with no public comment. Dobbs Ferry Mayor Christy Knell explained that the resolution is a reaction to ICE and CBP abuses in Minneapolis.

“This was our first meeting that we could have passed [the resolution] after some of the worst events in Minneapolis,” Knell said. “I think of the people who do the most good in jobs and volunteer the most…and that idea of one of them being murdered by our own [law enforcement] I mean, it’s just heinous.”

Nitin Gupta, the School Doctor at Masters and a Dobbs Ferry trustee, also weighed in. He said, “We want to acknowledge that we’re very aware, to let our people, our citizens know that we are upset by what’s going on and we do want some accountability.” He added, “Even though we’re a small village, our voice does matter collectively.”

Knell clarified that the Village usually focuses on local issues, rather than national headlines.

“What we try to do at a village level is we try to keep village things, village things. So we don’t represent the entire village in political ways most of the time, because our goal is to just focus on our village,” she said.

Neighboring towns Hastings-on-Hudson and Ardsley have already approved similar resolutions. Knell explained that the Dobbs Ferry resolution was edited to include additional language, citing the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

As of Feb. 10, Knell said that she had received several emails of support from her constituents and no pushback from any members of the community. Knell added that she hopes the resolution will empower state and federal officials to take action.

“We have George Latimer in the House, and we have Schumer and Gillibrand, I would just hope that the more they know that they have the support of all the levels of government, they’d be more willing to defend and to take a stand and put themselves out there, because I think it’s really hard for them to be convinced to do that,” she said.