Sanctuary cities

[Tigermike 3,055]

Sanctuary cities have been in the news lately. What do you think, should federal funds be withheld? Should officials in these cities be prosecuted for breaking federal law? Or is the idea of sanctuary cities a good idea and they should be applauded?

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Explain what a sanctuary city is.

[Tigermike 3,055]

It is more than this.

"City of Sanctuary is a movement to build a culture of hospitality for refugees and asylum-seekers."

http://www.cityofsanctuary.com/

"If you’ve got hundreds of thousands of undocumented people living in your town, you want them to be willing to report crimes, to go to a doctor if they have a communicable disease, to keep their kids in school and off the street." Gail Collins, NY Times

If they are undocumented, then they need to be documented. If they are here illegally, they should be deported.

If a city decides to take up a policy like this there should be consequences. No federal funds should be the least. Prosecution should not be off the table. But it seems hardly NO ONE at the state or federal level really wants to do anything.

A Sanctuary City

A 'sanctuary city' is one whose leaders do not permit police or municipal employees to inquire about the immigration status of those within the city limits, or for such employees to cooperate with federal immigration officials under most circumstances. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and several others are such lawless, crime infested cities.

http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/NO...ctuaryCity.html

U.S. Cities Provide Sanctuary to Illegals

Any immigration lawyer who has been practicing long enough will tell you that people who are in the U.S. with no legal immigration status know the locales where they are least likely to be apprehended by immigration authorities and where they can resort to public services without fear of being found out.

Since 1996, it has been illegal for states and municipalities to take any action that prevents the reporting of illegal immigrants to federal immigration authorities. On July 23, the New York Times (search) ran a 1355-word article (which used the term "illegal alien" exactly four times) on New York City's response to a recent Federal Court ruling that compels the city to change a policy it has had for more than a decade. That policy prevented city agencies from reporting illegal aliens (search) to federal immigration authorities.

But rather than do what the court has stated he must, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (search) has developed a new policy -- city agencies now won't inquire as to a person's immigration status except in the most extraordinary circumstances. The goal is for the city to have nothing to report.

The days of the sanctuary policy might be numbered. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. (search), has offered an amendment to two appropriations bills that would bar federal funding to states and localities that restrict any government agency from sending information to, or receiving information from, federal immigration authorities regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status.

Though many are bound to complain that the effect of the amendment would be to deprive cities of much needed law enforcement money, the opposite is probably true. If the city does what the 1996 immigration law requires, and does not take measures that would prevent the city from informing immigration authorities of illegal aliens in their custody or using their public services, the funding will be available.

"Is every city in America going to establish its own immigration policy?" asks Tancredo. "We pretend that we have a single immigration law, and in fact, we do. But sanctuary cities are in effect creating many different immigration jurisdictions. There are cities in America where having no legal immigration status is meaningless." When it was last put to a vote, Tancredo's amendment picked up another 20 votes, showing that this common sense measure is picking up momentum.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,92966,00.html

Here is some explanation from Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.

IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS: Sanctuary Policy and Crime

(House of Representatives - July 9, 2003)

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo

The best way to introduce the topic I think is to discuss what happened here on this floor not too long ago when, on June 24, I offered an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill that would have prohibited any appropriated funds from going to any city that has an official policy of prohibiting its police officers from cooperating with immigration law enforcement. Such policies are in clear violation of existing Federal law, yet that amendment was defeated.

It was really one of the most bizarre episodes I think that I have been involved with since I have been in the Congress, when you propose a measure that simply says that the States and cities in this country should actually abide by the law, and, that if they do not, there would be some penalty attached to the violation of that law. That is really all it said. And yet the amendment failed.

http://www.limitstogrowth.org/WEB-text/tancredo-70903.html

City's sanctuary status mocked

Signs send illegals to Cambridge

By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | July 5, 2006

When Cambridge recently renewed its status as a sanctuary city for all immigrants, including undocumented ones, the news barely caused a stir around here.

But the move has made the city a target for an immigration control group based in Washington , which is starting a national campaign urging undocumented immigrants to flood into the Massachusetts city. ProjectUSA is raising money to pay for a billboard in northern New Jersey that it hopes will be the first of many across the country.

The proposed billboard would read: ``Attention: Illegal Aliens. Cambridge, Mass. is a sanctuary city. For help getting there, contact projectusa.org/NJ-mass transit."

In some cases, declarations of cities and towns as sanctuaries explicitly state that local law enforcement officers should not involve themselves in immigration matters . Other declarations have been less specific expressions of support for the causes of undocumented immigrants.

Cambridge's May 8 declaration, which renewed a sanctuary city designation first established in 1985, called for a moratorium on immigration raids by federal authorities pending comprehensive reform, affirmed the human rights of undocumented immigrants, and condemned legislation passed by the US House in December that would crack down on illegal immigration.

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``It's outrageous that these localities can just decide they're going to opt out of the law of the land," Nelsen said.

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/..._mocked?mode=PF

"The Newark, N.J. case and others like it demonstrate that it is (PAST) time to get serious about immigration reform. It begins with taking away the impunity for immigration violations on every level. Consider the fact that 40 percent of the current illegal population entered the U.S. legally, but overstayed their visas. This means that even if we had the best border security in the world, we would still have millions of illegal immigrants in this country. My legislation would have helped address this concern. If the government is ever to earn the trust of the American people when it comes to enforcing our immigration laws, we must begin by lifting this gag order on our cops.The Newark case and others like it demonstrate that it is time to get serious about immigration reform. It begins with taking away the impunity for immigration violations on every level. Consider the fact that 40 percent of the current illegal population entered the U.S. legally, but overstayed their visas. This means that even if we had the best border security in the world, we would still have millions of illegal immigrants in this country. My legislation would have helped address this concern. If the government is ever to earn the trust of the American people when it comes to enforcing our immigration laws, we must begin by lifting this gag order on our cops. " Restoring the Rule of Law: Eliminating Sanctuary Cities

by Sen. Norm Coleman

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22092

I am not suggesting that all illegal aliens are violent criminals, or that all violent criminals are illegal aliens. But we should recognize that there are some violent crimes that could have been prevented if only this gag order had not been placed on local law enforcement.

Immigrant rights group launches sanctuary movement in Las Vegas

Aug 24, 2007 12:09 PM

Illegal immigration is a hot topic in Las Vegas, and now one local group is working to create a safe haven. The Sanctuary City plan would protect illegal immigrants from deportation. News 3's Hetty Chang tells us how its been done elsewhere, and how the idea is facing some opposition.

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The group says illegal immigrants should feel safe in places like a church, but some feel if these immigrants are here illegally, they shouldn't feel safe at all.

http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6973095&nav=15MV

"It is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest."

- the late U.S. Congresswoman, Barbara Jordan

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Then my vote is "yes", withhold federal funds. There's no excuse for this.

That said, our immigration and visa procedures need a major overhaul. It shouldn't take years to do what needs to be done to allow people to be here legally, which is one reason many of them just sneak in.

[CCTAU 3,350]

Hell yes. Withhold all funds. It's a fact that if you feed a stray, it will never leave.

Strays