RIVER FALLS — River Falls City Hall was filled to the brim and then some with community members as the council heard public comments largely about immigration enforcement in the city, honored recently deceased Fire Captain Cody Peterson and celebrated UWRF football’s Division III National Championship.

During public comment, many community members spoke about recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and federal immigration enforcement in the area. As the raids were recently concentrated in Minneapolis, they have begun to trickle out into neighboring cities and suburbs. This has led to protests in the area, and some residents took to the council meeting to ask the city to oppose these raids in River Falls and to deny city resources.

“We are requesting the City Council provide information on the steps and the policies being implemented to address this issue,” Tom Garfin, co-director of Indivisible River Falls, a group that has opposed ICE actions through protests in the area, said. “Number one, what processes are in place to handle ICE related matters? Number two, what policies or actions is the City Council taking in response to ICE activity? Number three, what will the city’s general response be if ICE cooperation-related expenditures, excluding normal policing activities, are requested that require tax dollar allocations? Will these potential expenditures be made public before implementation? Number four, my final one, are there any plans for ICE-related developments such as detention centers in River Falls or in close proximity to River Falls?”

Resident Stephanie Potton spoke in favor of ICE operations. Potton said if the city cooperates with federal agencies, there would likely be fewer issues than if they deny support.

“ICE is operating without incident in most states. The highest deportation numbers are in Texas and Florida, largely from their jails. They can do their jobs in these states without problems because local authorities cooperate, and people are not trying to interfere,” Potton said. “Sanctuary cities, where local authorities refuse to cooperate, even refusing to turn over violent criminals who they arrest, are forcing ICE into the neighborhoods.”

Potton said former President Barack Obama deported 490,000 people in 2012, while President Donald Trump deported 290,000 in 2025, citing media reporting and Minnesota fraud cases as reasons for the widespread protests.

“The level of action wouldn’t be necessary if the Biden administration hadn’t opened the flood gates and allowed anyone to come in unvetted,” Potton said. “Maybe some of those [who] oppose the ICE operations today shouldn’t have stayed silent during the last administration’s dereliction of duty at the borders.”

Troy Township resident Jen Gergen said the city working alongside ICE would damage the community and the economy.

“I urge this council to pass a resolution opposing ICE raids, and to allocate resources to organizations supporting families who have been directly impacted,” Gergen said. “I am deeply concerned about the fear and trauma ICE operations are creating here. When our neighbors are too afraid to shop for groceries, take their children to school or go to work, our entire community suffers. Their absence weakens our local economy, our schools and our shared sense of belonging.”

Gergen said people are being “reduced to stereotypes” rather than being seen as community members, saying many of the detained immigrants are citizens, legal residents and people lawfully seeking asylum.

“ICE raids frequently bypass legal protections and due process,” Gergen said. “We must reject the propaganda that erases these realities.”

Gergen’s proposal was for a sanctuary ordinance that prohibits the use of resources, personnel and funding for federal immigration enforcement and called for an investigation into local law enforcement collaboration with ICE.

“To those who say, if you obey the law, you won’t get hurt, I ask you to look honestly at what is happening around us. That narrative ignores the lived reality of our neighbors and excuses harm that is neither necessary nor just,” Gergen said.

Pat Hammarback mentioned speaking out about the issue in the city for the first time, citing fear as the reasoning behind previously avoiding protesting.

“I’ve been a member of this community since the 80s. I have never felt the fear that is going on now,” Hammerback said. “I’m a coward. I haven’t been out protesting. I haven’t been out waving signs. I have not been out advocating. I am here because I’m afraid that if I see one of my neighbors brutalized, if I see a woman getting pepper sprayed in the face, if I see thugs having people down on the floor pounding on them, I am going to get involved. I will try to stop the bullies, and I am told that if I do this, I deserve to be killed, I deserve to be shot.”

Members of RF Action, a group focused on mental health in the area, said fear, anxiety and collective trauma have been caused by the ICE raids, impacting the mental health of community members.

Rhys Matz, who came to River Falls as a college student and has remained in the city for work, said there are further reasons beyond “moral obligations” to keep the police force from working with ICE.

“I don’t see that appealing to your moral obligations is practical, because you may agree or disagree, and I don’t think I can convince you of that,” Matz said. “We do have legal and economic obligations that are irrefutable.”

Matz said federal agents are breaking the law, and River Falls has to ensure its local police do not join them in doing so. Matz also mentioned factories and businesses struggling or shutting down because community members are being taken.

During City Administrator Scot Simpson’s report, he answered a few of the questions asked during public comment. He said River Falls has no agreements in the 287(g) program, a system that delegates immigration enforcement to local officers. He said with no holding cell, tribal task force and warrant service officers, the city would not have the ability to participate in those portions of the program.

“Policy 413 regards immigration violations. Of most note, probably, to folks is that, ‘An officer should not detain an individual for any length of time for civil violation of federal immigration laws or related civil warrants,’” Simpson said. “Officers may detain, so they do not shall, but they may detain an already lawfully detained person that committed a criminal violation or has a federal warrant.”

Announcements
The meeting opened with a recognition of Fire Captain Cody Peterson, who the River Falls Fire Department announced had died Jan. 21. There was a moment of silence held to remember Peterson and what he means to the community.

“Cody Peterson was a captain on our department. He was an outstanding leader, a dedicated teacher, a mentor and a true comrade to all who had the privilege of working alongside him,” Mayor Dan Toland said. “I ask that you please keep Cody, his family and all of his friends in your thoughts and prayers at this time.”

Council also made a proclamation to celebrate the UWRF football Division III National Championship win. Many members of the team were present, filling about half of the seats in the chambers.

Other business

• Approved noise control exemptions, open container exemptions, street closures and city assistance for River Falls Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau special events.
• Appointed Attorney Malina Piontek to serve as an impartial hearing officer to resolve a grievance of an “involuntary separation from employment.”
• Waived just shy of $8,000 in outstanding fees from a $500 for accident response within city limits on fire calls. Council approved closing the program, which had been the plan as part of the previously approved 2026 fee schedule.
• Appointed Steven Severson to the Plan Commission through May 2027, re-appointed Gary Donath to the Police and Fire Commission through April 2031 and re-appointed Casie Radford to the Historic Preservation Commission through January 2029.