Is New York rethinking its sanctuary-city status?
IN MANY PLACES it can take decades, if not generations, to be deemed a local. But as soon as anyone sets foot in the Big Apple, they are New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status or bagel preference. Eric Adams, though, New York’s mayor, has called for a change in the sanctuary-city law. This has triggered a debate on sanctuary cities and worry among immigrant groups. What is a sanctuary city and why is Mr Adams rethinking the policy?
Broadly, sanctuary cities (some 200 cities, counties and states) limit co-operation with immigration authorities: partly through laws and executive orders, but mainly based on the will of local people and the local government. When New York City became a sanctuary city in 1989, it was less an immigration policy and more a public-safety one. The then mayor, Ed Koch, wanted to encourage irregular migrants to co-operate with police when they were victims of a crime or witness to one. In return, their status would not be shared with the federal government. Those arrested were not necessarily handed over to immigration authorities.
Koch’s successors all abided by similar orders. Rudy Giuliani, a Republican who later served as Donald Trump’s lawyer, once said to illicit immigrants, “You’re one of the people who we want in this city. You’re somebody that we want to protect.” In 1996 he sued the federal government to stop city workers from turning over information about unlawful migrants in New York to immigration officials. In 2014 and in 2018 Bill de Blasio implemented measures further limiting co-operation. Police no longer honoured federal requests to detain people. Mr de Blasio evicted immigration officers from city jails. The law allows for exemptions, such as people with recent convictions for certain violent crimes and those on the terrorism watch list. Judicial warrants are obeyed.
2024-03-07 09:16:55
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