A crowd of about 150 citizens and immigrants gathered outside Jersey City City Hall prior to this evening’s city council meeting to vocally support a resolution being introduced by council President Rolando Lavarro. The resolution dovetails off of an executive order issued last week by Mayor Fulop officially making Jersey City a “fair and welcoming” sanctuary city. Fulop’s order uses a policy model drafted and recommended in part by the American Friends Service Committee, which is considered one of the strongest models in the country.
AFSC’s Chia-Chia Wang noted that this resolution is designed to “ensure immigrant residents live and work without fear and with dignity.” The resolution passed unanimously with many, including Lavarro himself, choking up with emotion throughout its discussion and passage through the process.