Stop Newton’s Sanctimonious Sanctuary City Ordinance

I oppose the Newton City Council’s Proposed Sanctuary City Ordinance.

The City of Newton receives over $12 Million annually in federal aid and reimbursements. A recent executive order by the new Trump Administration states that jurisdictions that fail to comply with applicable Federal immigration law do not receive Federal funds, except as mandated by law. We do not think it is prudent for Newton to jeopardize an important source of non-tax revenue in order to thumb its nose at the new President. Newton already owes $1.4 Billion in debt and net unfunded-retiree-benefit liabilities and losing this revenue source will only exacerbate Newton’s indebtedness.

Political disagreements are no excuse for fiscal irresponsibility. As the federal government had threatened to withhold federal conservation funding from Massachusetts if it failed to implement right turns on red back in the 1970s, there is precedent for the federal government using aid (or withholding it) to state and local governments in order to achieve its policy objectives.

Article One, Section Eight, Clause 4 states that Congress (the federal government) shall have power to establish a Uniform Rule of Naturalization, which is one of its specifically enumerated powers. The Center for Immigration Studies issued a white paper in 2009 concluding that federal policy on immigration has been founded on the “plenary power doctrine,” which holds that the political branches — the legislative and the executive — have sole power to regulate all aspects of immigration as a basic attribute of sovereignty. Efforts to try to use the Constitution to say that states and local governments can serve as Sanctuary Cities and States for illegal aliens is just wordsmithing and lawyer-balling.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform issued a report in 2013 concluding that illegal immigration costs federal, state and local taxpayers $113 Billion annually, including $1.86 Billion annually to Massachusetts taxpayers. Illegal immigration is illegal, the federal government needs to enforce the law for a change instead of proposing amnesty for illegal aliens and Newton government shouldn’t be encouraging bad behavior on the part of illegal aliens by serving as a sanctuary city for illegal aliens.

As someone who recently embraced observance of Judaism after many years of secular apathy, I am mindful of the biblical commandment to love the stranger as thyself, as the Jews were strangers in a strange land (Egypt). Judaism has always embraced treating the stranger with kindness since the time of Abraham. However, Judaism does not command its adherents to force taxpayers to assume $113 Billion annually in costs associated with illegal aliens in order to enable left-wing politicians to engage in virtue-signaling and to satisfy their charity lust, nor does it require communities to shelter illegal aliens from the enforcement of federal immigration law.

At the federal level, immigration enforcement hasn’t been tried and found wanting. It has been found politically inconvenient, and not tried. The left wants open-borders immigration because they view it to be a ready source of votes for left-wing political candidates and causes. Not to be outdone, open-borders immigration has plenty of fans in the Republican Party (such as Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush) so as to satisfy the insatiable gluttony of the business community’s cheap labor lobby.

According to the Newton Police Chief’s Office, the Newton Police Department has arrested nearly 2,000 people since 2011, of which three were turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. It’s obvious that this ordinance is a “solution” in search of a problem considering that only 0.15% of Newton arrests were remanded to the immigration authorities and it forces our police officers to violate the oath that they took to uphold the laws of the land as spelled out by the U.S. Constitution.

Finally, I agree with Ward 1 Democratic Ward Chairwoman Janet Sterman’s opposition to this legislation because it has

• Been the cause of initiating an unnecessary rift in our community,
• Unnecessarily questioned the integrity and practices of our law enforcement officials,
• Put our city councilors at odds about a subject that is absurd, as in reality as Newton is predominantly wealthy white suburb,
• Used language in the ordinance modified to the point where one would need the "New Alt-Left dictionary" to translate what the ordinance means in American English and
• Exacerbated the hatred and fears of the new Federal (Trump) administration.