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Mayor John Suthers warns against 'sanctuary city' policy, Green party pushes ahead, Whose job? By Nat Stein CS Independent, 5/3/17

Summary:

Mayor John Suthers doesn't understand that there is no sanctuary in "Sanctuary Cities"; ICE can go anywhere, regardless. Opposing a "Sanctuary City" policy does not increase "law and order"; it does the opposite. It also imposes an unfunded federal mandate on local and state governments. Republicans should oppose those outcomes. The only explanation that they don't? Racism. So it's not about "law and order" or city policing, the motivation is clear. Instead, Mr. Mayor, do your job, not the federal government's, to increase, not decrease, "law & order."

Article:

Republicans like Mayor John Suthers, Colorado Springs, oppose what they call "Sanctuary Cities". He said, "Colorado Springs is not a sanctuary city, and will continue to maintain this status regardless of what other Colorado cities determine for their communities." He even admits, "Immigration is a Federal responsibility ..."

First, the "Sanctuary Cities" concept is a misnomer ... nay, it's a lie. ICE can go into any city or state, period. There is no "sanctuary." So the issue isn't about "sanctuary" at all.

It's that Republicans want local and state governments to do the work of the federal government: enforce immigration law. That means Republicans endorse appropriating local and state government resources to perform a federal function.

Republicans call this kind of thing an "unfunded federal mandate" on a myriad of other issues. They always fight that tooth and nail -- "local control", you know. So what explains this "generosity" to perform a federal function?

It's also not about Suthers being, as he says, a "law-and-order guy." There's no law requiring local jurisdictions to perform a federal function. It's not about increasing "law and order". Kansas City Police Chief Terry Zeigler: "I think the real tragedy would be if the undocumented people in our community quit coming forward to report crime, or quit coming forward to provide information to police. Now that's going to have a big negative impact on crime and the quality of life in KCK."

What's more, a University at Buffalo study found no links between immigration patterns and increased crime. It found that immigration appears to be linked to reductions in some types of crimes.

Suthers says, "... to the extent that people are unhappy with the laws, they ought to vote for people who will change them." The shoe should be on the other foot. We've voted for City Council "people." Rather than unilaterally appropriating city resources, Mayor Suthers should, in advance, have City Council pass a law to allow commiting local resources to do a federal function.

Because it's not about "law and order" or city policing, the motivation is clear: it's racism. Instead, Mr. Mayor, do your job, not the federal government's, to increase, not decrease, "law & order."

Besides, U.S. policies created illegal immigration through a combination of U.S. farm policies and NAFTA (passed primarily with Republican support, opposed by the great majority of Democrats), which wrecked the livelihood of millions of Latin Americans and drove them to come to the U.S. to survive.

Republicans created the problem and now blame the victim.