St. Louis is a city built by generations of newcomers who helped shape our neighborhoods, businesses, culture, and economy. Today, as immigration enforcement expands across the country, our city faces a choice about what kind of place we want to be.

Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier has introduced legislation to place a five-year moratorium on new, non-municipal detention facilities in St. Louis. This bill would not interfere with federal law, nor does it target any specific agency. Instead, it uses the city’s existing authority over permits and approvals to pause the construction of new detention centers while elected leaders and residents carefully consider their impact on public safety, human rights, and community trust.

Across Missouri and the nation, more people are being detained as enforcement efforts increase. Reports of large warehouse-style detention facilities proposed in other cities have alarmed residents who worry about secrecy, lack of oversight, unsafe conditions, and the harm these facilities can cause to families and neighborhoods. Here in St. Louis, recent protests show how deeply many residents fear that detention centers would escalate tension and make immigrant communities less safe, not more.

Mayor Cara Spencer has said she values immigrants and recognizes that St. Louis needs them to grow. She has also acknowledged the difficult balance city leaders face when federal funding and disaster recovery are at stake. This legislation offers a careful, measured path forward. A temporary moratorium does not invite confrontation; it creates space for transparency, legal review, and meaningful community input before irreversible decisions are made.

We call on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to pass this bill and on Mayor Cara Spencer to support it. By doing so, city leaders can affirm that St. Louis is a place for all who live here, where policies are guided by local values, public safety, and respect for human dignity.

St. Louis can be proactive without being reckless, compassionate without being divisive. Sign this petition to urge our city leaders to stand together, slow down, and choose a future that reflects the best of who we are.