Letter to Editor: Resident Believes Dublin Should Become A Sanctuary City

Dear Editor:

This is my response to Alvin Lui’s (an American-born citizen of Vietnamese descent) letter in which he stated his reasons why Dublin should not be made a Sanctuary City. I support the resolution that would make Dublin a Sanctuary City and have emailed that support to the City Council members a few days ago.

• Letter to Editor: Dublin Should Not Be A Sanctuary City, Resident Says

The undocumented immigrants who come here, especially from the Middle East, are fleeing for their lives, i.e., it’s a matter of survival to try and escape from war-torn countries under dictatorships. They are dying daily in wars (in Syria just as one example) or are starving to death as a result of the wars. They don’t have the luxury of “waiting” until the paper work has been completed. In addition, there are those seeking political asylum because of persecution. I wonder if Mr. Lui has seen the pictures of the thousands who have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to escape from their countries to get to Europe.

America was founded and built entirely by immigrants over the centuries, including Mr. Lui’s relatives who came here legally and, on the other hand, the Africans who were transported here as slaves. Maybe he should ask the Africans who were transported here as slaves, i.e., “where are your papers?” or “are you legal?” And yet, their descendants helped to build America. The only people who were here at the beginning were Native Americans and they also came from somewhere else. Does Mr. Lui think that everyone who came here over the centuries had the “proper papers?”

He says Dublin is already overcrowded and is bursting at the seams. That is not the fault of immigrants who have come here. Perhaps the City Council can explain the reasons for the “housing boom,” especially in East Dublin. The undocumented immigrants are not turning America into the same lawless lands they escaped as Mr. Lui claims in his letter.

Crimes are committed here by people who are not immigrants, so please don’t say that all undocumented immigrants are turning America into a lawless land because they’re not. I’m wondering if Mr. Lui has NIMBYism? This means “Not In My Back Yard.” However, Dublin is now known as “The New American Backyard.” How does he explain this?

If I were an immigrant fleeing for my life and I came to Dublin and it was not a Sanctuary City, I would receive this clear message from the city, i.e., “You are not welcome here. You can go back to your country and die or don’t even come here in the first place and just stay there and die there. As long as we’re fine here, that’s all that matters. We don’t care at all about you.” And that would speak very sadly for Dublin.

Ramona Krausnick, Dublin resident