Monday, December 26, 2016

Sanctuary?? A Call to Arms

I have not posted in quite some time.  However, recent events make it necessary to post again.

Recently, Mayor Noble announced his intention to make Kingston a sanctuary city.  A sanctuary city, for those who do not know, is a city that announces publicly that illegal immigrants will not be arrested or detained for violating federal immigration law.

On January 10th at 7 p.m., there will be a Common Council Meeting where the Mayor's resolution will be discussed and likely voted open.  The public will be allowed to speak on the matter as well.

A few thoughts.  First, the Aldermen and the Mayor took an oath to faithfully defend and protect the laws and Constitution of the United States and State of New York, as well as the laws and Charter of the City of Kingston.  To vote for this resolution is a direct violation of that oath.

Second, President-Elect Trump has announced his intention to deny federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities.  As of January 20th, he will have the power to back that up.  How, pray tell, will the Mayor and Council make up for the loss of federal funds?  There are only 2 ways. Either they lay off firemen, policemen, and/or city employees; or, they raise property taxes.  Either way, we citizens and taxpayers take it in the neck yet again.

Finally, if a person is not held on a federal immigration warrant because of the sanctuary city policy and he or she subsequently commits a crime, what will the Mayor and Council have to say to the victim or the victim's family?  If God forbid, the person not arrested on said warrant commits a murder (it has happened before), how will the Mayor and Council get the victim's blood off their hands?

I know that the overwhelming number of illegal immigrants do not commit crimes and just are seeking a better life.  The number who commit violent crimes are between 2% and 5% which seems like a small number.  However, when you consider that there are supposedly 6 million illegal immigrants currently in the country, then a range of 2% to 5% is 120,000 to 300,000.  That's just too damn many.

I urge Kingstonians to do 2 things.  First, show up at the meeting and express your opposition.  (Know that the Mayor will have numerous plants  ready to speak in favor.)  

Second, tell your Alderman that if he or she votes for this resolution, you will vote against him or her.  Neither the Mayor nor ANY of the Aldermen ran on the idea of making Kingston a sanctuary city.  This is a bad idea and it needs to be defeated.  This is not Democrat versus Republican.  (One Alderwoman from each party has announced opposition).  This is about the future of Kingston.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do you say that most illegals are not criminals? Proof one way or the other?

Anonymous said...

Well said Richard. Hopefully, it will be a packed house January 10. A lot of people are not happy with this memorializing resolution passed out of committee to be voted on by full council. Let's see if they are upset enough to show up. We get to listen to mayor's state of city message too that night.

Anonymous said...

You should post your blog on Facebook so people in Kingston can read it. It's always informative, fair & contains important info that people just don't hear anywhere else. I was shocked beyond belief to read Andi Turco Levin's response from the mayor...he actually implied that taxpayers are only paying a pittance out of their taxes to DPW so that's why they don't clear the roads?!! That is absolutely ludicrous & so insulting to those of us who work hard & pay our taxes all the time. AND then to add that DPW employees work on a voluntary basis on holidays?? Is he really that disengaged from reality?? DPW employees are ON CALL during snow storm. They are not volunteering their time to clear the roads. It is their duty to get to work & clear the roads...that's what they get paid well for. At least Gallo knew what was going on...he punished people for not showing up to work during snow storms....he didn't accept "it's my wife's birthday" or "I need to go shopping" excuses. These things need to come to light so resident taxpayers (voters) begin to understand what kind of mess Kingston is really in. And one other thing...when the mayor put out the announcement for a new DPW superintendent, it specifically stated that the candidate must have a degree in civil engineering...but then hires his friend who has the same bachelor of environmental science degree he does...where is the outrage in all of this hypocrisy?? Post your blog, Mr. Cahill. Rock the boat!

kerfuffle said...

Pay close attention to the full agenda, this might be a red herring to distract everyone away from something else. I no longer believe mayor Sugarpants is actually running the city, there seems to be a cabal of former aldermen working through him behind the scenes.

Anonymous said...

The fallacy is that left-wing progressives should be tolerant to unfettered immigration policies. The reality is much different, communities everywhere are stretched with budgetary limitations, Kingston is no exception. Bringing in refugees seeking asylum from other countries places a burden on our schools, our police and medical infrastructure, housing and employment resources, etc. Today in Europe, havoc is being created by a flood of unchecked immigration -- with proportional crime waves. All should question how much our municipality can afford to welcome from other countries. Also the neoliberal war machine which generates these refugee crisises must also be addressed. Stop bombing places like Syria, Libya, and iraq, and there would be no refugees to argue about in Kingston.

Anonymous said...

Neoliberal war machine? The US military involvement in that area, the one that destabilized the entire region is the Bush legacy. It and Afghanistan are Republican wars

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with Cahill on this post.

Anonymous said...

Back in October 2016 there was a drug bust/raid in the city of Kingston. It was late at night and helicopters and law enforcement officials flew in for the roundup. In that raid were law enforcement officials from Homeland Security and US immigration and Customs Enforcement, UC Sheriff and State Police. KPD was not really involved in the roundup. It was mentioned in the Freeman that there was a gang involvement. These type of individuals gravitate to less conspicuous regions to ply their trade. The fact that there was homeland security and Immigration officials is disconcerting. So now with Noble wanting this to declared a Sanctuary city what type of havoc is he going to reap on Kingston. " Criminals hide in areas where they can not be readily accosted. "arrests of this scope are usually confined to "big cities" but that dealers are "branching out to rural areas" in hopes of alluding law enforcement was a quote from Angel M. Melendez an agent in charge of Homeland security issues at the local press conference. Wake up Kingston!! Show up on Jan. 10 to common council meeting. You can no longer be silent.