ALAMEDA CITY COUNCIL | Just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office, the Alameda City Council will likely become the next Bay Area city to become a sanctuary city. A discussion on the matter continues Tuesday night and satisfies a desire by some councilmembers to approve the resolution before Trump takes office on Friday.
Few changes were made to the referral authored by Councilmember Jim Oddie on Dec. 20. The resolution’s impetus is as a bulwark against any actions the Trump administration may take against undocumented immigrants and religious groups, among other racial demographics, Oddie said last month.
Many of the actions within the resolution are already either law or current Alameda policies. Under the resolution, Alameda police officers, in addition, to the city’s treasury and resources will be prohibited from use in the investigation and apprehension of individuals solely accused of violating federal immigration law.
The Alameda Police Department already operates under a policy against cooperation with the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement for immigration holds. Alameda also no longer maintains its own jail, which eliminates the worry by some opposed to sanctuary city status based on the fear violent undocumented offenders could be released into the community.
In the event, the Trump makes good on campaign rhetoric and directs federal entities to register people on the basis of the religion, race, nationality, gender or sexual orientation, the resolution also directs city departments not to participate.
The amount of federal funding at risk in Alameda, in the event the Trump administration takes punitive action against sanctuary cities, appears minimal. Based on a 2014-15 city audit, Alameda received $2.5 million in federal dollars, including $1.3 million via the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department. In addition, $11.3 million in competitive grants came to the city for three parks and roads projects.
However, there could be some risks involved by Alameda’s move to become a sanctuary city. Sen. Jeff Sessions, likely to be confirmed as attorney general, has stated a clear objection to sanctuary cities. Sessions could serve sanctuary cities with federal lawsuits for violating immigration enforcement. Some legal experts, though, doubt individual cities would be targeted. There are some 300 so-called sanctuary cities in the U.S.
Future federal grants could also be withheld, especially U.S. Justice Department grants for the hiring of new police officers. Alameda does not currently benefits from a COPS grant, according to a city staff report. But withholding funds for public safety is a slippery slope for Republicans, who strongly back law enforcement.
By MW:
Among major US cities San Francisco, a city whose highest ranking politicians are world class phonies, demagogues, and charlatans, but who pretend to be great liberals and wonderful humanitarians, was one of the very first, and perhaps the very first, to go big in the sanctuary city business.
However SF's politicians did not actually do it as a humanitarian move, but instead as a sleazy ploy, and including to allow those businessmen who were major sources of election campaign contributions and/or under the table bribes to the big boys in City Hall to have unlimited access to extremely low cost undocumented alien slave labor.
So now SF is actually also a sanctuary city for those sleazy businessman who desire an extremely low cost supply of undocumented alien slave labor to be used for such things as secret and illegal toxic cleanups and illegal dumping.
For instance, I used to work in a major SF office building that had virtually non-stop remodeling projects going on and was also heavily infested with asbestos.
However rather than spending the necessary money to do the remodeling projects in such a manner so that the tenants would not be exposed to asbestos, instead: one, the tenants were led to believe that it was just ordinary plaster and dust blowing all over them; and two, most of the asbestos debris was gotten rid by using undocumented aliens to dump the asbestos in general purpose trash containers. And at least most of the undocumented aliens, and who were used as unwitting and unprotected dupes in this, also undoubtedly thought it was just ordinary plaster and dust and trash they were handling and dumping, and although a considerable percentage of what they were handling and dumping was heavily infested with asbestos.
But since the building's primary owner was a major source of election campaign contributions and under the table bribes, therefore the big boys in SF City Hall did not care what he did, and including engaging in activities that would lead to the slow mass murder of many of his tenants. and including through future cases of mesothelioma and lung cancer.
Let me tell you, those liberal politicians are wonderful people, and in fact the salt of the earth.
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