Friday, November 18, 2016

Now they want to “lock up” Rahm? "Sanctuary city" will be battleground

It never fails to amaze me the level of nonsense that gets spewed by people with regards to immigration policy, particularly when the topic of sanctuary cities arise.
 
Will 'sanctuary' cities be the first issue...

Chicago is one such place – where people whose immigration status is uncertain are supposed to not fear interactions with local police because our cops don’t automatically turn over such information to federal immigration officials.

IN SHORT, GETTING pulled over for a traffic ticket or a petty offense will be treated solely as the petty offense it is, and not balloon into an immigration hearing with deportation consequences.

But now that we’re in the era where we will soon have a “President Donald J. Trump” who campaigned on the notion that he was going to give rise to the number of deportations from this country and otherwise keep out people he deems undesirable, it has some wondering what happens next.

I stumbled across an Internet comment (anonymous, of course) from someone who wants the new president to start punishing local officials, including our very own Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who don’t get with the program on immigration enforcement.

“Trump could even prosecute Rahm for things like obstruction of justice and could lock that dirty little f*cker up for the rest of his miserable life,” he (or she) wrote.

GEE, FIRST THESE people were chanting at the Republican convention for the incarceration of Hillary Clinton. Now they want the mayor of Chicago locked up for not fitting their ideological hang-ups. For people who probably think they’re “real Americans,” I find it odd they’re so eager to turn this country into a police state!

But the pressure is being put on cities that made themselves sanctuaries because there are those ideological nut cases who want to make people not like themselves miserable. Perhaps they’re the ones who found something logical in that “self-deportation” nonsense that Mitt Romney spewed four years ago during his failed presidential bid.

But now we’re going to have to see just how far Trump is willing to carry out the trash talk of his campaign. There are those people who voted Republican because they want to believe he didn’t mean anything he said literally.
 
... upon which Rahm and Trump clash?

Yet the honest truth is that there also are those people who were most enthusiastic to vote for Trump because they WANT to believe him literally, particularly on the immigration issue.

IF TRUMP’S FIRST presidential act isn’t the full repeal of the executive orders issued by Barack Obama to offer comfort to young people who were brought by their parents without full immigration status, they will revolt.

They will want the punitive action by the federal government against urban areas in general, and sanctuary cities like Chicago in particular.

For what it’s worth, the mayor has said this week the city is not about to give up its sanctuary city status – which was enacted before he became mayor and is largely a symbolic policy. Chicago officials made it known they’re not looking to bully non-citizens.

Not that it means anyone in Chicago is immune from prosecution. For federal immigration officials have agents in Chicago on the search for those who are not supposed to be residing in this country. They can still investigate and prosecute cases.

IT JUST MEANS they have to do their own legwork, instead of being able to rely on the Chicago Police Department for some free assistance.
OBAMA: How quickly will immigration views die?

Considering that immigration is an issue that lies beyond the Chicago Police jurisdiction, it only makes sense they should butt out. Immigration officials are the ones trained in the nuances of immigration law and understand it better than a beat cop who pulled someone over for driving with a busted tail light.

We’ll have to see just how this whole issue shakes down. I don’t doubt some are eager to see urban areas punished for this issue – although the real reason is more a matter of partisan politics rather than anything else. For the urban areas, particularly places like Chicago, did NOT vote for Trump’s presidential ambitions.

They are the reason why Hillary Clinton will win the popular vote so overwhelmingly (which is what all those polls were reflecting when they showed her likely to win the presidential election) despite losing the Electoral College, and I’m sure Trump is a vindictive-enough individual to be willing to find a way to try to crack down on his political opponents.

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