WATERVILLE — A proposal to ban city employees from cooperating with federal immigration agents passed its first hurdle Tuesday.

Discussions covered a wide range of perspectives coming from councilors, city employees, the police chief and residents. While some of the 20 residents at the meeting were confused about how the ordinance would be applied, others expressed full support.

The ordinance closely mirrors one recently passed in Portland, and similar ordinances are in place in Lewiston and Rockland. The vote was 6-1 after almost two hours of discussion.

Here are three main questions people had about the ordinance.

Should city officials consider the risks?

Police Chief William Bonney, who opposes the ordinance, held up his radio and dropped it on the podium.

“It looks a little bit like a brick. It sounds like one when you drop it. And it has something else in common,” Bonney said.

The department’s radios often don’t work, Bonney said, adding that speaking into a brick would bring the same result as using the radios. While the department has pursued temporary solutions, the problem requires more funding. The police department is seeking federal funding to fix this issue.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year to withhold federal funding from cities with “sanctuary” policies like the proposed ordinance. For the most part, courts so far have blocked the policy.

Bonney said he worried that passing the ordinance could hurt Waterville’s chances at receiving federal funding.

Councilor Rebecca Green, D-Ward 4, said she was alarmed at this reasoning.

“We know that federal funds are very capricious right now, and we cannot count on them to run the city,” Green said. “That should not be the reason that we vote against this ordinance. In my opinion, I’m more concerned with actually doing something that prevents people from getting detained illegally and protects city staff.”

Councilors Scott Beale, D-Ward 6, and Cathy Herard, D-Ward 7, echoed this sentiment. Beale said he does not want to give into what is essentially extortion by the federal government, and Herard worried about local immigrants and their sense of security.

Sonia Thomas, a resident who described herself as a single parent of color, said despite being an American citizen, she spent January afraid of being detained as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began a high-profile enforcement surge in Maine. Thomas prepared her daughter on what to say if she were confronted by immigration officials. Both she and her daughter began carrying copies of their passports.

“Listening to everybody talk right now … (about) the city having a target on its back, what we’re also talking about is Waterville residents already having a target on their back,” Thomas said. “I feel protected by the police … I do not feel protected by ICE.”

Ordinance or policy?

City Solicitor Bill Lee and City Manager Nick Cloutier suggested that rather than passing an ordinance, the city could instead ask Cloutier to issue a policy statement to all municipal employees.

Doing so would prohibit city employees from cooperating with immigration enforcement, but Cloutier would have the power to change the policy at any point.

Because Waterville has had five city managers in the last five years, Beale, who introduced the ordinance, said he didn’t consider a policy permanent enough.

Beale said if the state law that already prohibits police from cooperating with immigration enforcement operations is overturned, an ordinance would keep protections in place for Waterville.

“The fact that the ordinance cannot be changed without some administrative burden is important to the longevity of the ordinance,” he said. “The fact that a policy can be changed overnight by the city manager is not necessarily a vote in its favor in my mind.”

Should police be included?

Council Chairman Brandon Gilley, D-Ward 1, and councilors Green and Samantha Burdick, D-Ward 3, suggested rewriting the ordinance so it does not apply to law enforcement.

LD 1971, which will take effect July 14, already prohibits police from cooperating with immigration enforcement operations unless legally required. The Waterville ordinance would extend those limits to all city staff, and would also prohibit Waterville police from providing immigration enforcement officials access to police facilities.

Bonney said having to follow a state law and a local ordinance would be confusing for officers, and make training more difficult. He also worried an ordinance would stop immigration enforcement officials from informing the Waterville Police Department when they plan to detain residents as they have in the past.

The ordinance does not prevent immigration officials from doing so, and the ordinance also expressly allows police to be on the scene of immigration operations in the interest of public safety.

The City Council is scheduled to meet next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, in the City Hall Annex on Front Street. If the ordinance is approved on a second reading, the next step will be a public hearing.