Our blog community STARTED this discussion and now Mayor Sly was forced to answer questions INSPIRED by our TKC blog community.
Or, at the very least, public radio newsies checked our EPIC conversation and actually decided to do a bit of follow-up on concerns confronting a great many local residents there were UNREPORTED in local media before WE started talking about it.
Take a look:
KCUR: Kansas City Agencies Respond To Executive Order On Immigration Enforcement
Deets . . .
Speaking on the eve of Trump’s executive order, Mayor Sly James said that city police don’t intend to do the federal government’s heavy lifting.
“Our police department has no desire and no interest in enforcing immigration laws,” James said Tuesday. “That’s the federal government’s part, not ours. They won’t do it. They haven’t done it, and they probably won’t do it unless they are absolutely forced to do it. But we believe if the feds want people to do something, they need to get their tails down and get it done. We’re not going to help them.”
James spoke as part of a panel discussion on the impact of neighborhoods on education. His comments were part of a broader conversation about the potential impact of enforcement on communities.
“Why do we want to go in and disrupt neighborhoods, disrupt families where people are living peacefully?” James asked. “People who break the law should be handled. People who are not breaking the law should be left alone.”
But the Kansas City Police Department is under the control of a state-appointed board of commissioners, not the mayor. On Thursday, a police spokeswoman would neither confirm nor disavow the mayor’s remarks.
“KCPD does not have specific guidelines and all inquiries are referred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” Sgt. Kari Thompson wrote in an email statement. “We defer to ICE on all interactions and enforcement concerning those who are undocumented. We refer to them and our actions are guided by this agency.”
Thompson had no comment on the implications of the executive order for the department. And on Thursday, the mayor’s office reaffirmed its opposition to asking local agencies to enforce immigration law...
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Further reading . . .
Reuters: Top 10 U.S. sanctuary cities face roughly $2.27 billion in cuts by Trump policy
American Thinker: How Trump can cut off funds to sanctuary cities
Chron: Donald Trump may not be able to close sanctuary cities with the wave of a pen
Developing . . .
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