“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the matter of "sanctuary," a Mexican immigrant certainly does not become a violent criminal merely by stepping across our southern border in search of a better life. Statistics continue to show that the per capita instance of crime nationwide actually goes down slightly when immigrants are factored in. Single instances of illegal immigrants' guilt of serious crime certainly can be found, but collectively they don't add up to the level of native-born criminals.

Profiling and stereotyping just don't stand up to scrutiny.

Today’s world doesn’t need any additional ill-conceived hatred or any continuing search for illogical scapegoats.  

There are all manner of crimes committed every minute across the U.S. Everything from shoplifting to premeditated murder . . . speeding to drunk driving . . .  petty theft to Wall Street greed and corruption. Illegally crossing of the border is common and not in itself a violent crime. My personal attitude will remain not to blow illegal border crossing out of all proportion in viewing the reality of today's world.

And I will never support a wall across the North American continent at a cost of billions of dollars when in much of the world a mere 20 cents would feed a malnourished child for a day.

In official welcoming cities, law enforcement will continue to pursue suspected and known violators of all laws with a zeal appropriate to the offenses . . . except when the Feds tiptoe past Wall Street. 

I don't believe most of us want a program at local police stations of "when in doubt, arrest an Hispanic and check his papers." That may sound a bit ridiculous, sort of “1984”-ish, but that's the way things seem to be drifting on the ethnic scene--if Donald Trump and his White Supremacist teammates have their way. 

Meanwhile, I can't speak for the nature of the Sanctuary proclamations of Chicago and some other major cities, but nothing in "welcoming city" proclamations by such as Seattle and Port Townsend orders local police to refuse to co-operate with federal immigration authorities.

Here's the content of Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s proclamation in November. The Executive Order directs City employees and departments on the following items:

City employees will not ask residents seeking City services about immigration status, unless police officers have a reasonable suspicion that a person is committing or has committed a felony criminal-law violation.

City employees will serve all residents and services will remain accessible to all residents, regardless of immigration status, ancestry, race, ethnicity, national origin, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender variance, marital status, physical or mental disability, or religion. 

Seattle Police officers will continue to defer detainer requests from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement to King County, as jails are in King County’s jurisdiction.

City departments will issue a letter to all contractors receiving General Fund dollars to clarify and inform about these policies.

An Inclusive and Equitable City Cabinet will be created, made up of representatives from: Seattle Police Department, Office of Civil Rights, Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, Office of Labor Standards, Department of Neighborhoods, Office of Economic Development, Office of Policy and Innovation, City Budget Office, Office of Intergovernmental Relations, Department of Education and Early Learning, and Seattle Human Services Department 

The Inclusive and Equitable City Cabinet develop a programmatic investment strategy for $250,000 to directly address the needs of unauthorized immigrant children in Seattle Public Schools and their families. 

The Inclusive and Equitable City Cabinet will develop public awareness efforts around hate speech and crimes; review potential implications on City departments of any new initiatives and intent of the incoming Presidential administration; collaborate with immigrant and refugee communities to identify areas of need and new or expanded efforts for partnership; and develop a specific agenda and action plan to help the Mayor build a coalition of cities during the upcoming West Coast Mayor’s Summit and the U.S. Conference of Mayors gatherings. Read the entire Executive Order here: http://murray.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Executive-Order-2016-08_Welcoming-City.pdf

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