Sanctuary City
From the Courant:
Mayor Eddie A. Perez has signed an immigration ordinance passed last week by the city council, a measure that stops police from arresting or detaining anyone solely because of their immigration status.The ordinance also prohibits other city employees from asking anyone seeking services about their immigration status. (Cohen)
Perez had originally been against the idea, but signed it anyway. Other cities in the country, like San Fransisco and Baltimore, are so-called “sanctuary cities,” in which municipal officials don’t inquire about immigration status, and the police don’t make arrests solely based on immigration.
It’s unsurprisingly a very controversial idea. Says Judy Aron at Consent of the Governed:
While crime is rampant and children are being shot in their strollers, the best that the City Council can come up with is to invite illegal aliens to come to Hartford and have all of their social services paid for by CT taxpayers who continually pour more money into Hartford’s treasury. Somehow these elected officials think this action is going to benefit the city, and propel it into being a premier place to live and work.
A lot of people feel this way. However, the argument in favor of taking the city out of the business of figuring out who’s in the country legally has to do with just that sort of rampant crime referenced above. Said WFP councilman Luis Cotto:
“If you are a law abiding resident of the City of Hartford, you should have no fear of reporting a crime to police and you should be able to utilize the city’s services,” he said. “People are here. We can’t do anything about that. “
If it actually helps police by bringing more people forward to report crimes, then maybe it isn’t so bad after all. And Cotto is right, the police don’t really check this sort of thing anyway.
There is that whole business about federal immigration laws still existing, of course, and that’s where things get a little more complicated. In a perfect world, all the laws would be enforced equally.
But Hartford isn’t a perfect world. No one is going to sweep through the city and deport every illegal immigrant they find. And if the Hartford Police have to choose, it makes sense to enforce the laws that keep people safe, instead of those that differentiate who belongs and who doesn’t.
Source
Cohen, Jeffrey B. “Perez Signs Immigration Ordinance.” Hartford Courant 18 August, 2008.