(KNSI) – A resolution affirming St. Cloud’s support for law enforcement and the rule of law failed Monday night, with the city council voting 5-1 to reject the measure.
Council Member Scott Brodeen, who introduced the resolution, had first brought it forward at the January 27th council session before pulling it amid heightened tensions surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across St. Cloud and Minnesota. He delayed it until Monday’s meeting to give the community time to cool down, after receiving emails from residents who believed the measure was a blanket ICE support statement.
Brodeen’s resolution emphasized support for law enforcement within legal boundaries and stated it did not endorse or justify conduct exceeding constitutional, statutory, or jurisdictional limits.
After the vote, Brodeen told KNSI he wasn’t surprised by the outcome, but took issue with how opponents framed the measure. “I feel fine. I am not disappointed with the result. Frankly, I’m not surprised with the result. I’m disappointed with, disappointed might not be the right word, but a little surprised by the reasoning.”
Brodeen said critics turned his broader law enforcement resolution into a single-issue debate. “Because people read into it what it was not. They wanted to make this solely about ICE.”
He insisted the resolution was never intended as an anti-immigration statement, and that ICE was never specifically named in the document. Brodeen, who cast the lone yes vote, said the measure was meant to stand in perpetuity as a statement of community values, not just respond to current events.
The measure comes about two months after the full council voted 6-1 to reaffirm St. Cloud’s commitment to being a welcoming community regardless of immigration status, ethnicity, or country of origin.
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