Punishing "sanctuary cities"

Published October 4, 2015

Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, October 3, 2015.

It was pretty obvious anyway, but thanks to Jerry Tillman, it's official: The General Assembly's leadership is all about punishing any institutions that won't march with it in ideological lockstep.

The Republican state senator from Archdale, whose district includes Moore County, unleashed a tirade last week at North Carolina's five "sanctuary cities." Speaking on a bill that forbids cities from offering any protection to illegal immigrants, Tillman said the legislation doesn't go far enough. "We need to punish them," he said, the anger rising in his voice. "If I could, I'd take their charter."

Now, we're no fans of the sanctuary movement, which prevents police from cooperating in the enforcement of federal immigration law. That can too easily become a recipe for social and criminal problems.

But neither are we fans of forcing local cops to add the enforcement of federal laws to their already overfilled agendas. Too often, that has led to racial profiling and the harassment of law-abiding citizens who happen to be, or look, Hispanic. Federal law should be enforced by the feds, but locals should be able to help out when it makes sense.

The state's sanctuary cities, by the way, are Asheville, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Charlotte and Durham. The anti-sanctuary bill was approved in the General Assembly and sent to Gov. Pat McCrory.

When Tillman put punishment on the record, he gave a name to what has become legislative policy. It was there, in the last session, in attempts to kill what passes for a state teachers' union. It was there in the repeal of involuntary annexation and cities' rights to impose a "privilege tax" on businesses.

It was there in this session in the refusal to fully restore the incentive program that made North Carolina Hollywood East for the film industry - which is why the industry, the title and millions of dollars in local spending have moved to Atlanta. And it was there in an attempt to strip local government of the power to pass non-discrimination ordinances or to regulate housing or rental practices. That bill failed but is likely to return next year.

Over and over, the General Assembly's leaders have delivered a harsh message to the state's cities: Do it our way, follow our rigid ideology, or we'll hurt you. Badly. They're behaving, sadly, more like jihadis than like traditional Republicans, who live by the wisdom that the best government is the one closest to the people.

It was good of Sen. Tillman to put it on the record.

http://www.fayobserver.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-in-raleigh-it-s-ideology-and-punishment/article_3dec196f-69fb-5edb-bfba-b8984edbcb13.html

October 4, 2015 at 10:28 am
Richard L Bunce says:

... then there is the Kentucky clerk... either we are a nation of laws not men or we are not. I agree that there are far too many laws on the books at the Federal, State, and Local levels... local enforcement of Federal laws for many issue including most importantly the failed War On Drugs should be ended and left to Federal Law enforcement or better yet the laws removed from the books.

As to Legislative oversight of the States Municipalities... we need much more of it. The Legislature creates these State Chartered Municipal Corporations and gives them very limited powers. Most have greatly abused these powers and claimed new powers never given over decades of neglect by the Legislature. It is time the Legislature provided badly needed relief to residents, property owners, and businesses in these municipalities. One needed change that will benefit tourist areas is if property owners were declared residents for the purpose of voting in local elections.

October 4, 2015 at 10:48 am
bruce stanley says:

Hey, That's great, Fayetteville Observer editors, comparing republicans who don't want sanctuary cities in NC to jihadists!!!! Brilliant commentary! Did it ever occur to you that North Carolinians don't want sanctuary cities in our state? Did it ever occur to you that North Carolinians don't want our fellow citizens to be murdered by illegal immigrants as was Kate Steinle in San Francisco?

October 4, 2015 at 11:55 am
Norm Kelly says:

Just like when the demon allies of media types ruled Raleigh, nobody agrees 100% with the current legislature.

However, to confuse legislation that prevents illegal activity with making law changes is simply an attempt to deceive low-information voters, typically those who vote for demons.

Sanctuary cities are law breakers. Just like the illegal aliens that occupy these illegal districts.

It's time that state legislatures start taking action against sanctuary cities, current law-breakers. If it means removing state funds from those law breaking cities, then it means withholding state funds. Breaking the law is just as illegal for cities as it is for me as a US citizen, and as it is for illegal aliens. They are called illegal aliens for a reason. First because they are not US citizens, therefore aliens. Second because they have broken US national law in order to be here.

Do these law breakers deserve any sort of protection? No.

Do the law breaking cities of NC deserve any sort of protection or financial reward from the state? No.

Are Republicans in our legislature doing the right thing with this specific law change? Yes. Have they gone far enough? Probably not, but like demons in Washington that didn't read Obamacancer before passing it, I have not read the entire legislation concerning law breaking sanctuary cities. But, the idea of punishing sanctuary cities is the right idea. And it's not just the 'right' (read that conservative!) thing to do, it's also the proper, correct, and sane thing to do. Kinda like withholding state funds from regional rail projects. Not just 'right' but also proper. Stupid ideas deserve to die. Most deserve to die quickly. Like both sanctuary cities AND regional rail money wasters.

Common sense is lacking on the left.

Since most media-types are left wing zealots, who seem to support left-wing ideas without question, common sense is lost on these people also.

Fundamentally supporting law-breakers is illogical. If your daughter is raped, do you want the perp to be let go? What if your daughter is raped by a person who is here illegally and should have been deported (before the rape happened!)? Since the perp was here illegally, an idea you support, and the perp was protected by an illegal sanctuary city, an idea you support, would you then offer for the perp to live at your house, pay for their living expenses, and treat that perp like a relative? Or would you prefer the perp had been deported at the appropriate time? And if the perp had not been taken care of properly by law enforcement, would you like the perp to face trial and serve time for rape? Yes, rape is an extreme case. But it does happen. And where do libs stand on illegal activity by illegal aliens? Seems they support the illegal more than they support American citizens. There's even stories in the left-wing media about illegals helping Billary make it to the White House. Should American citizens stand by while this happens? Why are illegals even here, let alone be allowed to vote? At what point does breaking the law offend even die-hard libs and their media-type allies?

At what point will common sense, and the ability to think, return to lib-land? At what point will thinking citizens reject the goofy, illogical, illegal ideas/schemes of the left? At what point will a majority decide that socialist schemes have been tried by the left for over 50 years with little to no success to show for it before they decide the socialist schemes aren't worth supporting anymore? At what point will a majority realize that the US Constitution and conservative ideas succeed every time? Hopefully soon enough. But it does take common sense.