Curtatone encouraged by judge's ruling on sanctuary cities
Q: What do you think about this judge’s decision. Are you worried about the appeals court overturning it?
A: I’m pleased with the decision. We’ve always argued, and the law clearly states, that neither the federal government nor any president can hold federal monies over your head as a sword of a Damocles in order to bring you to your knees to do something. I mean, it’s against the Constitution, that’s what the judge said. What we’ve seen over the last few months is that the Trump administration has come to the realization that there are very few, if any, federal dollars that they could target, and they were focusing on Homeland Security and public safety funding, which ironically go toward helping first-responders prepare to keep their communities safe . ... So, I’m gratified and not surprised that the court ruled against this really Draconian policy: a policy that cuts against the Constitution, that is unconstitutional. Am I concerned? I’ll be vigilant in terms of what the appeals court does, but we know this is going to be a long legal process.
Q: What do you say to people on the other side of the argument who see things differently and support the president? Especially after a border patrol agent was recently killed?
A: Firstly, that case involving the agent is tragic. It’s awful. But to paint with a broad brush every immigrant, documented or undocumented, as having the potential to commit that type of crime is just unfathomable. It’s just not right, not accurate and not fair. All the data shows that’s not the case. All I would argue is, let’s look at the facts and look at the data. Somerville’s been a sanctuary city since 1987 and our crime is down over 63 percent.
Now, I’m not saying that’s the only reason, but we work collectively as a community and collaboratively to engage everyone in our community, including the immigrant population, the undocumented population to solve issues around public health and public safety. And all the data shows that undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than residents . ... We have a broken immigration system in this country that needs to be fixed.
The president has made it one of his top priorities to demonize — with negative rhetoric and really illogical policy that is just unfair and cruel — and attack and target one of the most vulnerable populations in our country. That’s not who we are.