Speakers tell of anxiety, fear
Advocates urge Pittsburgh to declare itself a ‘Sanctuary City’
About two dozen speakers at a City Council hearing Wednesday urged that Pittsburgh declare itself a “Sanctuary City,” bar discrimination on grounds of immigration status and prohibit city cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The hearing was prompted by a citizen petition, and there is no sanctuary-related legislation currently before the council.
Of the council members who attended all or part of the hearing, two gave impassioned talks agreeing with the sentiment of the speakers — but saying that existing city policies and laws already address them, while a third gave
mixed reviews to the proposal.
Most who spoke were U.S. citizens, either through birth or naturalization, but some of the most emotional testimony came from Latino women who lacked legal immigration status.
“I can imagine many of you have children,” a woman who gave her name as Isabel said through an interpreter. “Imagine that you are taken away from your children.”
Two of her children are U.S.-born citizens, and the oldest was 3 when she brought him to America. “For him, his country is this one,” she said.
Added another woman, Remedios: “In truth, I am very afraid. We don’t do anything bad. The only thing we do is come here to work so we can feed our children. My children cry when they listen to the news.”
The news — that was the backdrop of the hearing.
President Donald Trump’s administration has increased enforcement since his inauguration, with immigration-related arrests up nearly 40 percent from a year ago. Mr. Trump made a denunciation of illegal immigration a central rallying cry of his campaign, and he continues to highlight anecdotes of violent crime by such immigrants.
Although Pittsburgh has fewer Latinos than any city its size or larger, they are feeling the same anxiety as elsewhere over the heightened enforcement.
Speakers on Wednesday cited studies saying that immigrants commit fewer crimes than American-born citizens. They said people often immigrate to escape violence in their homelands and don’t have the money or time to wait for years for relatively rare visas.
“The reason they come here without documentation is because they cannot get a visa,” said David Hughes of Squirrel Hill. He said a sanctuary policy would help counter a “racist, xenophobic imaging of immigrants.”
Daniel Malinsky of Bloomfield, who came here as a refugee from the former Soviet Union, said “many undocumented immigrants are effectively refugees, even if they lack official refugee status.” They have fled “persecution, violence, danger and deprivation,” he said.
Afterward, council member Dan Gilman spoke at length in support of immigrants regardless of status — before questioning the need for a formal sanctuary designation.
“Nobody is illegal. ... We are all legal human beings, and the term illegal is offensive and inhumane,” he said, adding that in some parts of the country, immigrants are reluctant to report crimes or call an ambulance for fear of being discovered to lack legal standing.
He cited the case of an Indiana woman whose husband was deported to Mexico and who had voted for Mr. Trump. She said she thought the president would target only serious criminals rather than people like her husband.
“As a Jewish American, I feel particularly strongly about this,” Mr. Gilman said. “You can always say you never thought it was going to be you.” He cited the famous poem of the German minister Martin Niemoller, saying he didn’t speak up for Jews and others until the Nazis “came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Said Mr. Gilman: “We’re talking about your neighbor, maybe your family member, maybe your child’s classmate.”
Council President Bruce Kraus echoed the comments. But he and Mr. Gilman said the city has already enacted concrete protections for immigrants, without the “sanctuary” label.
“We need to get away from a term and get down to what people need to live in peace and security and tranquility,” Mr. Gilman said.
They include measures to ensure city services regardless of immigration status and provide translation services as needed, he said. He urged advocates to suggest any improvements.
Council member Darlene Harris said the immigrant mothers’ testimony “absolutely broke my heart.”
“No family should ever be torn apart,” she said.
Although Pittsburgh has fewer Latinos than any city its size or larger, they are feeling the same anxiety as elsewhere over the heightened enforcement.