A Better Approach to Immigration

by: Hopeful

Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 11:03:09 AM EDT

Many at Blue Jersey have been critical of Riverside and Morristown for their harsh approach towards illegal immigrants. But is there really an alternative? Today's Washington Post has a story Looking the Other Way on Immigrants: Some Cities Buck Federal Policies. It's mainly about Hightstown, New Jersey. It's now considered a sanctuary city, where police officials have been instructed not to ask about immigration status. The result: Crimes are reported, and the town is flourishing:

Hightstown Mayor Robert Patten, who hails from the core German-Irish stock in this heavily Democratic town, sees things differently. The town square, once peppered with empty storefronts, is brimming with new Latin American restaurants and remittance centers. Last year, the town closed the streets for an Ecuadorian festival that brought together hundreds of residents
"Most of us know this town would have a heck of a time trying to run itself these days without the immigrants," said Patten, a Republican. "They're working at the grocery stores, the fast-food places, they're opening businesses and keeping this town alive and young. We're just being practical by telling them, 'Look, we want you in our community, and we want you to feel like you belong.' "

Hopeful :: A Better Approach to Immigration

Tags: Highstown, Illegal Immigration, immigration, Hightstown, (All Tags)

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A Better Approach to Immigration | 1 comments

Sanctuary cities -- how beautiful (0.00 / 0)

I wrote a blog post on this issue last month (http://www.losanjali...), and mentioned that i really liked the framing of welcoming cities as "sanctuary cities" instead of negative framing of cities that let "illegals get away with things" or something similar.

From New Haven Welcomes a booming population of Immigrants (http://www.nytimes.c...):

At the same time, immigrant groups in New Jersey are working with Hackensack, Paterson and other places to pass resolutions prohibiting the police or other city officials from questioning residents about their immigration status, joining Newark and Trenton in becoming so-called sanctuary cities.

Thanks for the diary.

Cure This! -- let's talk health and heatlh justice

Los Anjalis blog on LA, Newark NJ, beats, strategy

by: los anjalis @ Fri Apr 13, 2007 at 04:22:13 AM CDT