Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is taking on U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, saying Tuesday that the Republican’s criticism of his city’s sanctuary status is fearmongering in line with GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s stances on immigrants.
- One of Mayor Jim Kenney’s first moves as mayor was to reinstate Philadelphia’s status as a “sanctuary city”
- A sanctuary city means the city will not comply with Department of Homeland Security requests for Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds, which is a tactic used by the federal government to detain undocumented immigrants who would be released from police custody
- Philadelphia’s executive order stipulates that a detainer request will not be followed unless the person is being released after conviction for a first or second degree felony involving violence and the detainer is supported by a judicial warrant
- Definition of a Detainer Request: A request that a local jail or other law enforcement agency detain an individual for an additional 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays after his or her release date in order to provide ICE agents extra time to decide whether to take the individual into federal custody for removal purposes)
- “Vast majority of suspected terrorists would not fit into Mayor Kenney’s narrow category,” Spokeswoman for Pat Toomey E.R. Anderson stated
- Philadelphia police officers are forbidden to share information or otherwise cooperate to apprehend those terror suspects who have not yet been convicted of a violent first or second degree felony – a category that encompasses Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsaervev, the San Bernardino shooters, and the Orlando shooter. – Anderson
- “The City of Philadelphia does cooperate with the federal government in the case of suspected terrorism,” Lauren Hitt, spokeswoman for Mayor Kenney’s office stated
- “Someone who is accused of a crime, like terrorism, would be detained pursuant to the complaint,” Hitt commented
- “Most of the people that are targeted by these poles are people that either got arrested for petty crimes or people who haven’t done anything at all… That get targeted by police who are just regular people trying to make a living,” Paula Meninato, the civic engagement coordinator for the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition said claiming Toomey’s concerns regarding suspected terrorists being let free in Philadelphia and other “sanctuary” cities are misplaced
- “With the implementation of the Prirority Enforcement Program more (PEP) more than a year ago, many law enforcement agencies that had previously declined to cooperate with ICE, including some large jurisdictions, are now once again working with the agency,” ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls stated
WRITER’S OPINION
This gun control law seems like a great idea, however, it would not of changed the outcome of the Boston Marathon bombing, San Bernardino shooting, or the Orlando shooting as all 3 of those incidents were led by individuals who would’ve been granted a gun permit, anyway. PolitiFact stated that Tsarnaev’s citizenship was approved, one of the San Bernardino shooters was in the United States on an American visa with the other one born in Chicago. The Orlando shooter was also born and raised in New York & was a former police officer, therefore he would’ve been granted access to the weapon. Regardless, if somebody is sick enough to plan a shooting or massacre, a permit will not stop it nor make it any less attractive to them. The last thing any of them are worried about is being charged with carrying a firearm without proper licensing after they murder Americans.. That would add maybe 7 years to their five life sentences/& or death penalty. Big whoop.
This story was written to summarize PolitiFact’s article which can be read here. Photo Credit: PolitiFact