Will Camden's 'Sanctuary' Stance On Immigration Cost Federal Bucks?

Camden County honors federal requests to detain undocumented immigrants because of their legal status only if a warrant or court order is supplied.

This policy came about after a federal appeals court ruled in 2014 that state or local law enforcement agencies aren’t compelled to comply with federal requests to hold people due to their immigration status, according to philly.com. But will their political stance end up costing the city federal funding?

President Trump is cracking down on the more than 300 sanctuary cities that shield immigrants, signing an executive order Wednesday that would withhold federal funds to those local governments that offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants. He signed the executive order during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security.

The order against sanctuary cities was expected to be one part of a series of executive orders on immigration issues that will be unveiled over a couple of days.

Camden is listed on on the Ohio Jobs and Justice Pac’s Original List of Sanctuary Cities, USA, despite Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson’s assertion to philly.com otherwise.

In an interview last year, Thomson told philly.com that targeting undocumented immigrants would be complete counterintuitive to what the city is trying to do.

Camden City Council President Frank Moran credited immigrants, including some who may be undocumented, with helping to revive parts of the city.

Sanctuary cities and counties are called that because they offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants, refusing to turn them over to federal officials for deportation. Most sanctuary cities and counties have also passed laws preventing employees from even turning over information to immigration officials.

Before Trump signed the sanctuary city order, he signed an order formally moving forward with his campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

"This is border security," Trump said. "We've been talking about this from the beginning. This is going to bring it over the top. We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States.

"A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders."

The promise to "build a wall" was the most common refrain at Trump's campaign rallies last year. He would ask, "What are we going to do?" and the crowds would respond, "Build a wall." He would then ask, "Who's going to pay for it?" and they would respond, "Mexico."

The order calls for "the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border" of the United States. It does not say how the wall will be paid for.

Administration officials have said that the work on the wall could begin and that Mexico would be forced to pay for it down the road, though a mechanism for making that happen has not been spelled out.

"We will be in a form reimbursed by Mexico, which I've always said," Trump told ABC News on Wednesday.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said Trump's actions put him "on the wrong side of common-sense, political realism and our American history."

“This is a terrible and ugly decision by a President who is more concerned with right-wing fringe movements than doing what’s right for all of America, for the economy, and for the future of this country," Menendez said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "Donald Trump started his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and murderers, and he is shamefully starting his Presidency by declaring open season on immigrants and refugees, and making taxpayers foot the bill for his nativist impulses."

He added that Trump appears to be "held hostage by the most extreme anti-immigrant members of his inner circle."

“In the face of the White House’s nativist agenda, Americans must rise above and remember that it was our immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents who built this nation, fueled the industrial revolution, kept our factories running, built our roads and highways, worked hard, started businesses, defeated fascism in all corners of the globe, became part of the greatest generation, and gave this generation a chance to reach our full potential. Immigration did that," Menendez said. “ ... The fact remains, to prevent playing a game of whack-a-mole with President Trump’s attacks on our immigrant and refugee communities, Congress must again begin the debate on comprehensive immigration reform to bring our immigration system into the 21st Century. We must not turn our back on those who come to America for freedom and opportunity. Now more than ever, we need leaders from both sides of the aisle who understand what the immigrant experience, immigrant history, and immigrant heritage means to the progress of this nation.”

Immigrants and advocates from Make the Road New Jersey shared their outrage and joined a call for immediate resistance in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.

"As a college student who hopes to one day work in public service, I see Donald Trump’s policy as a direct attack on my family and community's future," Make the Road New Jersey member DACA student and Hillside resident Sara Mora said . "I condemn President Trump's cruel actions today and recommit to fighting to protect our community - we will not stop until all immigrants are safe and respected."

Additional reporting by Colin Miner (Patch Staff)

Photo: Wikimedia Commons