TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition Pushes for Sanctuary City

On January 25, 2017, President Trump issued his executive order “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” calling for appropriate enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, including a directive to withhold non-mandatory federal funding to jurisdictions that don’t comply with deportation of illegal aliens, aka, sanctuary cities.

Several days later, the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), issued a state-wide call to organize against efforts by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement to follow the President’s orders:

Last week the president shared his blueprints for mass deportation and made clear he needs state and local agencies to act as his deportation force. Join with TIRRC members in your local area to stop your city/county from collaborating with ICE and to create communities of trust where all residents feel safe. Sign up here: www.tnimmigrant.org/trust .

TIRRC advocates for what they describe as “just and humane immigration reform,” using the lexicon of amnesty such as “undocumented immigrant” and “family reunification” and advancing a platform that violating immigration laws should not a bar to any benefits available to U.S. citizens.

Before leaving office, then Attorney General Loretta Lynch issued guidance that city officials must be in compliance with 8 U.S.C. 1373 which:

prevents federal, state and local government entities and officials from ‘prohibit[ing] or in any way restrict[ing]’ government officials or entities from sending to, or receiving from, federal immigration officers information concerning an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.

Regardless, TIRRC wants agitators to pressure city and county officials to either officially or unofficially replicate how other self-identified sanctuary cities are violating federal law.  TIRRC’s website posting takes umbrage with the idea that individuals who have entered the country illegally and go on to break other U.S. laws, should not be subject to deportation:

While he’ll [Trump] continue to say he’s targeting dangerous criminals with enforcement actions, make no mistake about it: President Trump just gave the greenlight for ICE agents and local police to deport just about anyone.

ICE is charged with protecting the homeland  and public safety through interior enforcement of federal immigration law. ICE is the agency that executes final removal orders issued by immigration judges.

As of July 2015, ICE data shows that 925,000 aliens subject to final removal orders were still living in the U.S.:

Yes, Every Kid

About 20 percent of the non-departed aliens have at least one criminal conviction. Nearly all of these individuals — and nearly all of the convicted criminals — are at large, not in ICE custody. About 60 percent of the aliens come from just four countries: Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala…

Once ICE is notified that an individual who has been arrested may be deportable, ICE may issue a detainer requesting that the person be held until ICE can take custody. Informal or formal policies and practices that deny compliance with ICE detainer requests is a hallmark of sanctuary cities. According to ICE, between January 2014 and September 2016, there were “21,205 declined detainers in 567 counties in 48 states including the District of Columbia.”

Kate Steinle was shot and killed in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who had already been deported five times, had seven felony convictions for drugs and illegal reentry to the U.S. ICE had issued a detainer request which was denied because San Francisco is a sanctuary city.

 

 

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One Thought to “TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition Pushes for Sanctuary City”

  1. K King

    “President Trump gave the green light for ICE agents and local police to deport just about anyone.” Hmmmm, well, no, he didn’t. He gave the green light to deport ILLEGALS. And I say, GOOD! It’s way past time! We have been inundated for far, far too long! It’s disingenuous for these liberals to feign surprise, try to imbue shock in the populace, or even hold their heads and cry about it; the man campaigned on this very subject over and over, and it was, in fact, one of the main reasons the people of this country voted for him, and STILL support him! Deport them all, I say! Build the BIG, BEAUTIFUL WALL!!

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