A heated crowd at last night's city council meeting.

"You are out of order young man, please have him removed," Patricia Spitzley, Lansing City Council President said.

All fired up about Lansing's sanctuary status.

"This is my home and I want it safe," one woman said during public comment.

"Suddenly you're all very confused on what sanctuary city means, even though you've been debating it for months," Seth Kalis with By Any Means Necessary said.

Now Lansing is no longer a sanctuary city in name... But according to council member Kathie Dunbar, the name doesn't really matter:

"Regardless of if they call it a sanctuary city, we're a sanctuary city,” Dunbar said. “The big thing to remember is those two words don't mean anything, it's the policies."

The policies she's talking about are Mayor Virg Bernero's executive orders that provide certain protections for illegal immigrants. Lansing police can't ask for somebody's immigration status unless they have a warrant. Patricia Spitzley disagrees with Dunbar, saying the mayor's orders don't refer to Lansing as a sanctuary city. She thinks this decision as a whole means the president won't cut Lansing's federal funding:

"Having that designation could potentially put us at risk for federal dollars, and i can't allow that as a city council member," Spitzley said.

As for why other members changed their minds, some of them agreed the city could lose funding. Others say they realized council doesn't have the power to declare Lansing a sanctuary. The meeting was originally called after a letter from the chamber of commerce was sent to council members, urging them to remove the term sanctuary city. Nobody said that's why they changed their minds. But others, speculate that it had something to do with it:

"I personally feel there was caving in to the chamber of commerce."

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Original Article:

Lansing's sanctuary city status might end as soon as tonight. Council members are holding a special meeting to discuss the resolution.

Tonight's agenda includes discussion and a possible vote on rescinding the sanctuary city resolution and adopting a resolution reaffirming Lansing as a welcoming city. The meeting comes days after protesters showed up at Monday's council meeting slamming the sanctuary city resolution.

The sanctuary city resolution was passed on April 3, and reaction has been mixed. Some support it but there has also been backlash. Tonight's meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. It will be held on the 10th floor of City Hall in Council Chambers. The meeting is open to the public.