During the years of increasing polarization of American society leading up to the American Civil War the Federal government passed a Fugitive Slave Law (1850) which attempted to compel government officials (federal, state, and local) in the non-slave states of the North to assist in the capture and return of slaves to the South. This fueled the abolitionist cause and contributed to the growing divide in our nation.
There are parallels between that portion of our history and the immigration crisis in our land today. The anti-immigration fervor that is being stoked by the executive branch of government is causing a strong backlash by those who recognize the positive contributions of immigrants. The move to arrest and deport immigrants, with the resulting breakup of families, pulls on the heartstrings of compassionate people. When the Federal government then attempts to coerce state and local governments to assist in that effort (or bear the consequences of losing funding) then the citizens in those local situations resist. More and more people feel it necessary to provide sanctuary for their friends and neighbors, and feel compelled to resist the over-reach of federal authorities. As a nation, and as individuals, we would be well served to remember that we are a nation of immigrants and that it is the contributions of immigrants and their children that have made America great. Local communities should not have to be sanctuary cities. In the words of Judge Milton Hirsch, of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, who recently ruled on the Executive Branch’s effort to crack-down on sanctuary cities, “Miami is not, and has never been, a sanctuary city. But America is, and has always been, a sanctuary country.”
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Time for Common Sense AgainCommon sense commmentary by Joel Kreger (unless noted and credited to a guest writer) Archives
November 2018
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