Testimony of Tracy Davis, Managing Attorney, Bread for the City

Council of the District of Columbia

Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety 

Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Oversight Hearing

June 2, 2025

Good morning, Chair Pinto and Councilmembers. My name is Tracy Davis, and I serve as Managing Attorney at Bread for the City, where we provide a wide range of services to thousands of DC residents—many of whom are immigrants who trust us to help them navigate not only the legal system but the city they call home.

I’m here today to urge you to protect DC’s sanctuary city policy and reject any effort to allow the Metropolitan Police Department to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

We have already seen the impact of increased ICE presence in our city. Bread attempted to host a legal clinic for undocumented residents to obtain assistance with Custodial Power of Attorney – legal documents that would plan for the care of their children should parents be detained or deported by ICE. None of the registrants attended amidst the increased ICE activity that day. Additionally, many of our legal clients have been unwilling to speak to housing attorneys at DC courts due to fear of exposing themselves to ICE enforcement. We’ve heard numerous reports from clients who refuse to seek assistance from law enforcement when they are victims of crimes or from government agencies to access benefits and programs. On a daily basis, our noncitizen Bread for the City clients across practice areas express anxieties and fears at engaging in everyday activities, including simple matters like going to school or work.

I spoke with one of our Physician Assistants in our Medical Clinic about the recent ICE activity in the District. She serves our Spanish-speaking immigrant patients. She told me that on May 8th, she had zero patient appointments. Zero. In her 18 years of practice, she has never had a day with zero patients. Between our three Spanish-speaking medical providers, they saw 6 patients on that day. On a normal day, they would see between 30 and 40 patients.

This isn’t just anecdotal. Studies show that when local police collaborate with ICE, community cooperation plummets. People stop reporting crimes—even serious ones like domestic violence and trafficking. When trust in law enforcement erodes, we’re all less safe. Bread for the City’s legal clinic sees this firsthand: parents afraid to seek protective orders or request child support, tenants choose unsafe housing conditions over contact with city agencies or going to court.

Let me be clear: immigration enforcement is the federal government’s responsibility—not MPD’s. When police officers become de facto immigration agents, they lose the trust that’s essential to their core mission of keeping people safe. A trust that already is precarious because of the decades of harm to Black and Brown residents by MPD. If this city’s leadership decides to continue to invest in the police, we must at least be realistic about what impacts the effectiveness of that investment.

At Bread for the City, our commitment is to dignity and justice for our community. DC’s sanctuary policy embodies those same values. It allows our immigrant neighbors to seek help, show up for court, go to school, and access health care without fear that a call to 911 might lead to detention or family separation.

We urge the Council to:

• Maintain DC’s sanctuary protections and keep MPD out of immigration enforcement; 
• Invest in immigrant trust-building measures, like legal services, culturally competent services, and language access; 
• And publicly reaffirm DC as a safe city for all—regardless of status. 

This is not just a policy debate. It’s about the safety and humanity of our neighbors. When faced with these threats to our city, it is imperative that we not obey or acquiesce in advance. Doing so, only teaches others how easily we compromise and relinquish our power. At Bread for the City, we believe that when everyone in our city feels safe, we all thrive. Let’s not turn our backs on that vision and our neighbors.

Thank you for your time, and I’m happy to answer any questions.