Sixty mayors from around the country on Tuesday held press conferences and other events to show their support for immigrants both legal and illegal.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors helped organize the effort dubbed “Cities Day of Immigration Action.” The organization collected the names of the mayors and cities participating in the event and the actions they would be taking, including pledges to:
- Hold an in-person event such as a local press conference, town hall, roundtable or “Know Your Rights” forum
- Pass a city resolution, proclamation, ordinance or other official document commemorating the day
- Send out a press release
- Pen an op-ed
- Amplify your activities via social media using #MayorsStand4All
The mayor of Austin, Texas, Steve Adler, Tweeted an article entitled “Mayors Celebrate Immigrants While Facing ICE’s New ‘Non-Cooperative’ City List” using the hashtag “MayorsStand4All.”
Breitbart Texas reported that ICE, under the Trump Administration, is now publishing a weekly Declined Detainer Outcome Reports, demonstrating the crimes for which aliens have been accused. The maiden report revealed that sanctuary jurisdictions released 206 criminal aliens from their jails. Texas leads the nation with more than 70 percent of cases. While there were 149 criminal aliens released from Texas jails, 142 were released in Travis County.
One day before the #MayorsStand4All events, Jessica Vaughan with the non-partisan Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) told Breitbart Texas, “The report from DHS is commendable, but also alarming. Now the public can understand exactly who is benefiting from the sanctuary policies–the released criminal aliens.”
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings used the #MayorsStand4All hashtag to welcome the director of the new “Office of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs.”
The Dallas mayor has been outspoken for the rights of Syrian refugees and illegal aliens, and has stood against Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s efforts to stop the flow of refugees into the Lone Star State.
Mayor de Blasio held a press conference outside of the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan and said absent a court order, he will shut-out ICE agents from the city’s schools. “We will not allow ICE agents to threaten that protection, disrupt classes or take any action that would be detrimental to our students,” de Blasio said, reported Breitbart News. When questioned, the NYC mayor admitted that ICE agents have not gone into the schools but ominously added, “we’re seeing things that we have not seen before and there’s a tremendous amount of fear out there. We have to be ready for anything.”
The New York Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs issued a letter to students and families the same day stating that ICE agents would not be permitted in the schools. It also declared that the NYC Department of Education (NYC DoE) would not be releasing information about students and would be “expanding Know Your Rights workshops for students, parents and community members.”
City officials in Washington, D.C., Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, and Kansas City Mayor Sly James participated in the Cities’ Day of Immigration Action along with 57 other mayors and cities.
Not everyone who used the hashtag “MayorsStand4All” was supportive of the mayors.
This individual may have been noting the recent rape and sodomization of a 14-year-old girl at Rockville High School in Maryland.
Others were clear in their reference to the alleged sexual assault. One of the males charged, 18-year-old Sanchez Milian, had a deportation order pending at the time of the alleged assault. The Guatemalan was allowed to enroll as a freshman, reported Breitbart News. Seventeen-year-old Jose O. Montano, the other student charged, is from El Salvador. Sean Spicer criticized sanctuary jurisdictions saying the tragic crime was why President Trump is so “passionate” about buckling down on illegal immigration. Rockville High School is located in Montgomery County, Maryland, a county that is listed as a sanctuary jurisdiction, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
One of those Tweeting under #MayorsStand4All said it was ironic that the hashtag was trending at the same time as “#rockvillerape” and added, “Mayors should stand for citizens first. PERIOD.”
https://twitter.com/MADDdawg99/status/844326825266479110
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.
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