In keeping with its sanctuary city policies, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney announced that he was terminating a contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) that gave the federal government access to arrest records.
“I cannot in good conscience allow the agreement to continue,” Kenney told the paper.
Kenney’s decision comes after several incidents that he says gave him reason to be concerned that the agency was using its access to the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System, or PARS, in “inappropriate ways.”
What troubles Kenney’s conscience so? Apparently, enforcing our immigration laws is too much for him.
According to the mayor, Philadelphia ICE officials confirmed earlier this month that the agency’s access to the database could result in immigration enforcement against residents without criminal convictions.
The database, which is a real-time database of arrests, does not list immigration status, according to the Inquirer, but does include country of origin and Social Security number.
ICE has come under scrutiny nationwide, as arrests of immigrants [sic] without criminal convictions have spiked under the Trump administration. Immigration advocates and some progressive Democrats have called for the agency to be abolished, accusing the president of abusing it to target more immigrants [sic] for deportation.
Kenney, who has been an advocate for Philadelphia’s “sanctuary city” policies, has faced repeated calls to terminate the contract.
City Solicitor Marcel Pratt wrote a letter notifying ICE officials of the decision to end the contract, in which he wrote that the partnership “has created the false perception that the city is willing to be an extension of ICE,” according to the Inquirer.
I had not heard that Philadelphia had declared its independence from the United States, but I was on vacation recently and may have missed it.
It’s become commonplace for the media to forget to include the term “illegal” when reporting on the deportation of aliens. It’s just too much of an inconvenient truth to identify the reason why ICE is doing land office business. The agency is actually enforcing laws that have been on the books for decades – laws passed by Congress and signed by the president, who is responsible for enforcing the law.
If you don’t like the law, change it.
That’s the democratic way. Unfortunately, it’s just too hard to amend the law or pass a new one liberals might see fit to obey. And, of course, democracy is soooo hard. Simply ignoring the law is much easier. Besides, defying the law gives a liberal the golden opportunity for virtue-signaling. Kenney’s “conscience” is bothered by enforcing the law, so speaking truth to power earns him plaudits from all the right media outlets and pundits.
I have a secret fantasy that politicians like Kenney who enable illegals to evade deportation are arrested and perp-walked in front of City Hall. But then I wake up and realize that that will never happen.
In keeping with its sanctuary city policies, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney announced that he was terminating a contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) that gave the federal government access to arrest records.
“I cannot in good conscience allow the agreement to continue,” Kenney told the paper.
Kenney’s decision comes after several incidents that he says gave him reason to be concerned that the agency was using its access to the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System, or PARS, in “inappropriate ways.”
What troubles Kenney’s conscience so? Apparently, enforcing our immigration laws is too much for him.
According to the mayor, Philadelphia ICE officials confirmed earlier this month that the agency’s access to the database could result in immigration enforcement against residents without criminal convictions.
The database, which is a real-time database of arrests, does not list immigration status, according to the Inquirer, but does include country of origin and Social Security number.
ICE has come under scrutiny nationwide, as arrests of immigrants [sic] without criminal convictions have spiked under the Trump administration. Immigration advocates and some progressive Democrats have called for the agency to be abolished, accusing the president of abusing it to target more immigrants [sic] for deportation.
Kenney, who has been an advocate for Philadelphia’s “sanctuary city” policies, has faced repeated calls to terminate the contract.
City Solicitor Marcel Pratt wrote a letter notifying ICE officials of the decision to end the contract, in which he wrote that the partnership “has created the false perception that the city is willing to be an extension of ICE,” according to the Inquirer.
I had not heard that Philadelphia had declared its independence from the United States, but I was on vacation recently and may have missed it.
It’s become commonplace for the media to forget to include the term “illegal” when reporting on the deportation of aliens. It’s just too much of an inconvenient truth to identify the reason why ICE is doing land office business. The agency is actually enforcing laws that have been on the books for decades – laws passed by Congress and signed by the president, who is responsible for enforcing the law.
If you don’t like the law, change it.
That’s the democratic way. Unfortunately, it’s just too hard to amend the law or pass a new one liberals might see fit to obey. And, of course, democracy is soooo hard. Simply ignoring the law is much easier. Besides, defying the law gives a liberal the golden opportunity for virtue-signaling. Kenney’s “conscience” is bothered by enforcing the law, so speaking truth to power earns him plaudits from all the right media outlets and pundits.
I have a secret fantasy that politicians like Kenney who enable illegals to evade deportation are arrested and perp-walked in front of City Hall. But then I wake up and realize that that will never happen.
via American Thinker Blog
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