December 20, 2007
The Mayor and Council at its Work Session on December 18, 2007 voted to hold a hearing on a resolution that would make Mount Rainier a sanctuary for immigrants. The Public Hearing is scheduled for February 12, 2008 at 7:00pm, Mount Rainier's City Hall.
The text of the proposed resolution is posted below. I would appreciate receiving your comments, questions, and/or suggestions on this proposed resolution.
First Reading and Vote: ____________
CITY OF MOUNT RAINIER, MARYLAND
RESOLUTION No. __________
Introduced by Council Member Briones
AN ORDINANCE REAFFIRMING THE IMPORTANCE OF
IMMIGRANTS TO THE MOUNT RAINIER COMMUNITY
AND PROVIDING SANCTUARY FOR IMMIGRANTS FROM
LOCAL ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS
WHEREAS, the City of Mount Rainier has a long and strong tradition of embracing and valuing diversity and respecting the civil and human rights and dignity of all residents regardless of their race, creed, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, gender or sexual orientation; and
WHEREAS, the City of Mount Rainier actively welcomes, and is comprised of, racially and ethnically diverse populations, both native-born and immigrants, whose collective cultures, languages, heritage, arts, cuisines, backgrounds, and viewpoints enrich our community and our nation’s capital; and
WHEREAS, neither Maryland nor Federal law requires or provides resources for municipal governments for the enforcement of Federal immigration laws; and
WHEREAS, enforcement of Federal immigration laws by the Mount Rainier Police Department would discourage immigrant residents from reporting crimes and suspicious activity and cooperating with criminal investigations; and
WHEREAS, current Mount Rainier Police Department policy prohibits staff from enforcing Federal immigration law or inquiring as to the citizenship status of individuals; and
WHEREAS, Mount Rainier is opposed to racial profiling, and granting local police officers the authority to enforce Federal immigration laws may lead to racial profiling; and
WHEREAS, as a matter of public safety, the protection of an individual’s citizenship and immigrant status will engender trust and cooperation between law enforcement officials and immigrant communities to aid in crime prevention and solving, and will discourage the threat of immigrant and racial profiling and harassment; and
WHEREAS, the vast majority of immigrants in Mount Rainier are law-abiding residents and are themselves often the victims of crime; and
WHEREAS, the Mount Rainier Police Department has made it a priority to gain the trust and confidence of the entire community as part of its community policing program; and
WHEREAS, cooperation with or a perception of cooperation with the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement would create a loss of trust and confidence of the immigrant communities in the Mount Rainier Police Department; and
WHEREAS, loss of cooperation with the immigrant communities threatens the health, safety, and welfare of the entire Mount Rainier community; and
WHEREAS, the City of Mount Rainier believes that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty and that government can protect public safety without impairing civil rights and liberties; and
WHEREAS, the due process and equal protection clauses of the 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution guarantee certain due process and equal protection rights to all residents of the United States regardless of citizenship or immigration status; and,
WHEREAS, many jurisdictions throughout the United States are undertaking the enforcement of Federal immigration laws and adopting other policies that discriminate against immigrants; and
WHEREAS, recent Federal immigration raids in the metropolitan Washington area have caused fear throughout immigrant communities, including immigrants who reside within the City of Mount Rainier; and
WHEREAS, the City of Mount Rainier continues to believe that all persons should be treated equally, without regard to their immigration status.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
MOUNT RAINIER, MARYLAND:
SECTION 1. NO CITY ENFORCEMENT OF IMMIGRATION LAWS.
A. No agent, officer, employee, contractor or subcontractor of the City, in the performance of official duties, shall assist the United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection in the investigation or arrest of any persons for civil or criminal violation of the immigration and nationality laws of the United States.
B. Except for subsection (A) of this section, this chapter does not prohibit the Mount Rainier Police Department from carrying out its mandated duty to apprehend violators of the criminal laws, nor does it prohibit police contact with any Federal agency, other than the United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, in assisting any federal agency with investigations or arrests relating to criminal activity and suspected criminal activity other than violations of the immigration and nationality laws of the United States.
SECTION 2. NO INQUIRIES INTO CITIZENSHIP.
No agent, officer, employee, contractor or subcontractor of the City, in the performance of official duties, shall make any inquiry into the citizenship or residency status of any person seeking to enforce rights or obtain benefits, or discriminate in the enforcement of rights or the granting of benefits on such bases, unless Federal or Maryland law so requires for the determination of eligibility of benefits.
SECTION 3. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON CITIZENSHIP PROHIBITED.
No agent, officer, employee, contractor or subcontractor of the City, in the performance of official duties, shall discriminate against any person on the basis of citizenship or immigration status.
SECTION 4. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION ABOUT CITIZENSHIP STATUS
No agent, officer, employee, contractor or subcontractor of the City, in the performance of official duties, shall release to the United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection or to any third party, any information regarding the citizenship or residency status of any City resident. This section shall not be construed as to prohibit the disclosure of the City’s voter roll.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
SANCTUARY FOR IMMIGRANTS
As a long-time resident of Mount Rainier and a homeowner, it is important to me that municipal government be inclusive of all of its residents.
It is equally important that information be communicated through all possible channel so that residents can get involved.
It is also important for residents to volunteer and serve on committees, commissions, boards and task forces.
I truly believe that municipal government is the government closes to the people, and as such should be easily accessible.
This BLOG is another effort to reach out to the residents of Mount Rainier.
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On February 12th Mt. Rainier council will discuss a very important topic: Creating a sanctuary for Illegal Immigration and undocumented workers.
ReplyDeleteAs a resident of a neighboring town that has a healthy crime problem, many of us are truly concerned with the problems an immigration sanctuary will cause for towns near Mt. Rainier.
If this kind of selective law enforcement is allowed to happen, the few will decide the fate for many in the whole area.
An immigration sanctuary in Mt. Rainier won't solve our national problem, it will only increase taxes and raise our crime rate.
Mt. Rainier and surrounding areas are already friendly to immigrants, legal or otherwise -- creating a sanctuary is not necessary.
Here are some interesting and startling economic facts. Some are a little biased, so please take it with a grain of salt.
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Illegal Aliens Cause Massive Cuts For US
Seniors http://rense.com/general79/seniors..htm
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year.
http://tinyurl.com
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food
stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare and Social Services by the American taxpayers.
http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by
illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two-and-a-half times that of non-illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U.S. from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report. http://tinyurl.com
12. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
13. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States ".
http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml;
Total cost is a whooping... $338.3 BILLION A YEAR!!!
Snopes is provided for doubters:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/bankofamerica.asp
Providing sanctuary to people who have entered this country illegally is like allowing a stranger who breaks into your house to stay there and to grant them the same rights and privileges as your children. Nobody gives their children's food and rooms to strangers or add them to their health insurance. Most importantly, sanctuary cities/states are violating this country's federal immigration law and thereby endangering national security. Providing sanctuary is encouraging even greater illegal immigration and allowing terrorists to infiltrate. Have we already forgotten September 11?!!! Any city which provides sanctuary to illegal trespassers should be denied all federal funding. Perhaps instead they can obtain funding from the illegals' home countries. That or charge a special tax to the businesses who hire cheap illegal labor and who basically purchase our "elected" public officials. As a taxpayer I should not have to subsidize business's illegal labor and support arrogant illegals who make demands of the U.S. and its citizens, who deplete public services meant for needy americans, who violate traffic laws, housing and zoning codes, food vending regulations, bankrupt our hospitals and even sell drugs, promote violent gangs (such as MS-13) and commit violent crimes and who should be returned to their home countries so that they can make the same demands (that they make unjustly of the U.S. and its citizens) of their OWN corrupt governments whom they themselves have elected. Illegals should SHUT UP AND GO HOME. Any city or state providing sanctuary should be denied all federal funding and any businesses who hire illegals should lose their license and/or be confiscated (as the IRS confiscates those that do not pay taxes). My hard earned tax dollar should not be used to support people who do not belong here and who have their own countries and governments.
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