SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
States Double Down on Sanctuary Status to Fight Trump's "Cruelty"
'These are not political games, these are real lives the president is targeting'
Feb 07, 2017
States are getting ready to fight President Donald Trump's xenophobic agenda, with political trendsetters at the front lines.
The Democrat-heavy New York Assembly passed two bills on Monday to make the state a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, and to give undocumented students access to tuition assistance programs.
The "New York State Liberty Act," introduced by Assemblyman Francisco Moya, a Democrat from Queens, would prohibit law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws or questioning or arresting people based on suspected immigration status. It would also guarantee the right to a lawyer for any individual facing deportation.
The Assembly also passed the DREAM Act, which has passed through the chamber five times since 2010 only to stall in the state Senate, to provide tuition assistance to undocumented students attending college in New York.
"It is our job to respond to his call to build border walls with a wall of our own, one that protects diversity and acceptance that have always been at the core of our state," Moya said during a press conference. "Not only is it a moral imperative to shelter every race or religion from bigotry, it is our obligation to protect the function of our local law enforcement and agencies."
Although they face an "uncertain-at-best" future in the GOP-controlled state Senate, as Politico puts it, the bills mark the state's strongest response yet to Trump's nationalist policies.
Meanwhile, California congressional leaders released statements countering Trump's recent threat to defund the "out of control" state for considering sanctuary status.
"Sanctuary cities, as you know I'm very much opposed to sanctuary cities," the president said during an interview Sunday with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. "They breed crime, there's a lot of problems. We have to well defund, we give tremendous amounts of money to California.... California in many ways is out of control, as you know. Obviously the voters agree or otherwise they wouldn't have voted for me."
"So defunding is your weapon of choice?" O'Reilly asked.
"A weapon. I don't want to defund the state," Trump said. "I don't want to defund anybody. I want to give them the money they need to properly operate as a city or a state. If they're going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. Certainly that would be a weapon."
Assembly members responded by outlining California's economic strength and progress, and warning that any sanctions against the state could have nationwide consequences.
"If this is what Donald Trump thinks is 'out of control,' I'd suggest other states should be more like us," said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. "California has the most manufacturing jobs in the nation. Our state grows a quarter of the nation's food. Our minimum wage increase has not only helped our poorest workers, it has boosted the economy while unemployment continues to drop."
Senate leader Kevin de Leon also noted that California actually gives more to the federal government through annual taxes than it receives in funding.
"President Trump's threat to weaponize federal funding is not only unconstitutional but emblematic of the cruelty he seeks to impose on our most vulnerable communities," De Leon said. "Taking such irresponsible action would hurt our senior citizens, children, farmers, and veterans--these are not political games, these are real lives the president is targeting."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
States are getting ready to fight President Donald Trump's xenophobic agenda, with political trendsetters at the front lines.
The Democrat-heavy New York Assembly passed two bills on Monday to make the state a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, and to give undocumented students access to tuition assistance programs.
The "New York State Liberty Act," introduced by Assemblyman Francisco Moya, a Democrat from Queens, would prohibit law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws or questioning or arresting people based on suspected immigration status. It would also guarantee the right to a lawyer for any individual facing deportation.
The Assembly also passed the DREAM Act, which has passed through the chamber five times since 2010 only to stall in the state Senate, to provide tuition assistance to undocumented students attending college in New York.
"It is our job to respond to his call to build border walls with a wall of our own, one that protects diversity and acceptance that have always been at the core of our state," Moya said during a press conference. "Not only is it a moral imperative to shelter every race or religion from bigotry, it is our obligation to protect the function of our local law enforcement and agencies."
Although they face an "uncertain-at-best" future in the GOP-controlled state Senate, as Politico puts it, the bills mark the state's strongest response yet to Trump's nationalist policies.
Meanwhile, California congressional leaders released statements countering Trump's recent threat to defund the "out of control" state for considering sanctuary status.
"Sanctuary cities, as you know I'm very much opposed to sanctuary cities," the president said during an interview Sunday with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. "They breed crime, there's a lot of problems. We have to well defund, we give tremendous amounts of money to California.... California in many ways is out of control, as you know. Obviously the voters agree or otherwise they wouldn't have voted for me."
"So defunding is your weapon of choice?" O'Reilly asked.
"A weapon. I don't want to defund the state," Trump said. "I don't want to defund anybody. I want to give them the money they need to properly operate as a city or a state. If they're going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. Certainly that would be a weapon."
Assembly members responded by outlining California's economic strength and progress, and warning that any sanctions against the state could have nationwide consequences.
"If this is what Donald Trump thinks is 'out of control,' I'd suggest other states should be more like us," said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. "California has the most manufacturing jobs in the nation. Our state grows a quarter of the nation's food. Our minimum wage increase has not only helped our poorest workers, it has boosted the economy while unemployment continues to drop."
Senate leader Kevin de Leon also noted that California actually gives more to the federal government through annual taxes than it receives in funding.
"President Trump's threat to weaponize federal funding is not only unconstitutional but emblematic of the cruelty he seeks to impose on our most vulnerable communities," De Leon said. "Taking such irresponsible action would hurt our senior citizens, children, farmers, and veterans--these are not political games, these are real lives the president is targeting."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
States are getting ready to fight President Donald Trump's xenophobic agenda, with political trendsetters at the front lines.
The Democrat-heavy New York Assembly passed two bills on Monday to make the state a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, and to give undocumented students access to tuition assistance programs.
The "New York State Liberty Act," introduced by Assemblyman Francisco Moya, a Democrat from Queens, would prohibit law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws or questioning or arresting people based on suspected immigration status. It would also guarantee the right to a lawyer for any individual facing deportation.
The Assembly also passed the DREAM Act, which has passed through the chamber five times since 2010 only to stall in the state Senate, to provide tuition assistance to undocumented students attending college in New York.
"It is our job to respond to his call to build border walls with a wall of our own, one that protects diversity and acceptance that have always been at the core of our state," Moya said during a press conference. "Not only is it a moral imperative to shelter every race or religion from bigotry, it is our obligation to protect the function of our local law enforcement and agencies."
Although they face an "uncertain-at-best" future in the GOP-controlled state Senate, as Politico puts it, the bills mark the state's strongest response yet to Trump's nationalist policies.
Meanwhile, California congressional leaders released statements countering Trump's recent threat to defund the "out of control" state for considering sanctuary status.
"Sanctuary cities, as you know I'm very much opposed to sanctuary cities," the president said during an interview Sunday with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. "They breed crime, there's a lot of problems. We have to well defund, we give tremendous amounts of money to California.... California in many ways is out of control, as you know. Obviously the voters agree or otherwise they wouldn't have voted for me."
"So defunding is your weapon of choice?" O'Reilly asked.
"A weapon. I don't want to defund the state," Trump said. "I don't want to defund anybody. I want to give them the money they need to properly operate as a city or a state. If they're going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. Certainly that would be a weapon."
Assembly members responded by outlining California's economic strength and progress, and warning that any sanctions against the state could have nationwide consequences.
"If this is what Donald Trump thinks is 'out of control,' I'd suggest other states should be more like us," said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. "California has the most manufacturing jobs in the nation. Our state grows a quarter of the nation's food. Our minimum wage increase has not only helped our poorest workers, it has boosted the economy while unemployment continues to drop."
Senate leader Kevin de Leon also noted that California actually gives more to the federal government through annual taxes than it receives in funding.
"President Trump's threat to weaponize federal funding is not only unconstitutional but emblematic of the cruelty he seeks to impose on our most vulnerable communities," De Leon said. "Taking such irresponsible action would hurt our senior citizens, children, farmers, and veterans--these are not political games, these are real lives the president is targeting."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.