Officials: Chesco not a ‘sanctuary’
WEST CHESTER » The Chester County commissioners on Thursday attempted to ease fears and tamp down criticism that the county had decided to become a “sanctuary county” protecting undocumented immigrants who live within its borders against federal government intrusion.
“There is so much misunderstanding on this issue,” said commissioners’ Chairwoman Marian Moskowitz in response to questions from an East Goshen resident who said he was concerned the county was heading in a direction “it should not go,” in supporting an “influx” of those who have entered the county illegally.
“That’s not going to be a benefit to the county,” said Joe Reed, a recent transplant from New Jersey who said he now lives in Hershey’s Mill.
Reed was commenting on a letter signed by Democrat Moskowitz on Jan. 10 on county letterhead to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which she referenced the Trump Administration’s call for local and
state governments to indicate whether they would be willing to accept the resettlement of new refugees entering the county through a 40-year-old federal government program.
Moskowitz, with the support of her fellow commissioners, wrote that the county would, “consent to resettlement in any assenting municipalities within its borders.” The letter was in response to an executive order, currently on hold pending litigation in federal court in Maryland, giving states and others the ability to opt out of the program and refuse to accept refugees.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, had earlier also announced that the state would continue to support new refugees coming here, and local municipalities such as West Chester have passed resolutions welcoming refugees facing, “religious, ethnic, and political persecution” into their midst.
The letter to Pompeo set
off a firestorm of criticism of Moskowitz and her colleagues on social media, with some commenters issuing threats, she said.
One writer told her “I know where you live,” and urged her to allow “illegal immigrants” to move in with her. The Commissioners’ Office received about 30 calls and inquiries about the issue, with the individual commissioners apparently getting other messages.
In response to the emails, the county issued a statement explaining its position and what the letter addressed. “There is a clear distinction between refugees and immigrants,” it reads. “Refugee resettlement has absolutely nothing to do with criminals and undocumented immigrants.”
At the meeting Wednesday, Reed said his concerns came because he and his wife had spent several months choosing which community to retire in, and has chosen the county because of its good reputation for sound management. Was he wrong to have thought so he wondered?
His questions about the
letter were answered primarily by Republican Commissioner Michelle Kichline, who decried the misinformation that had been circulated about the issue.
Kichline, of Tredyffrin, has a personal perspective on the issue, she said, because her parents had been accepted as refugees in the county in 1956 from their native Hungary, escaping both political and religious persecution from the thenCommunist regime. She said the program which the letter referenced concerned those refugees who had been thoroughly vetted by the federal government for resettlement, and not others coming to the country through their own unauthorized means.
“That letter addressed a very, very narrow” set of incoming residents, Kichline said. Over the past 10 years, about 150 refugees had come to the county through the program — all sponsored by local religious or civic organizations, and not funded or approved individually by either the county or any of the county’s 73 municipalities.
“In that very definition, I had no objections to the
letter going out,” she said. “It has absolutely nothing to do with sanctuary cities,” which offer protection to undocumented immigrants from being rounded up by federal authorities for deportation. Kichline also dismissed the notion that the county does not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), noting its cooperation with the agency at the Chester County Prison in identifying those who are in the country without documentation.
When Reed commented that her explanation was “very different than what I understood,” Kichline bemoaned the way that social media created confusion in the political sphere.
“If someone would just pick up the phone and call, we could give them a very clear explanation about what is going on,” she said.
The letter was posted to the Facebook page of the Chester County Republican Committee on Jan. 17, saying it had been authorized by the Democratic commissioners, who took office Jan. 6. It did not mention the support of Republican Commissioner Michelle
Kichline.
Comments on that page include criticism of Moskowitz as a “liberal Democrat;” one contending that those who favor “open refugee borders” are mostly Jewish; and one that noted, “These people were supposedly elected to work for the citizens of Chester County and now the truth to be known they are TRAITORS to The residents of Chester County. IMPEACH THEM!!”
Commissioner Josh Maxwell, a Democrat, said at the meeting that the refugee resettlements that occur in the county have been beneficial to the community over the years the program had been in place since the Reagan Administration, while also noting that the county government plays no formal role in those programs. No county taxpayer funds go towards housing refugees, and the letter signed by Moskowitz makes it clear that it is up to local municipalities to cooperate with such efforts if they want.
“We have no objections (to the refugee program),” Maxwell said. “I see no reason to change what has been working” for several years. “It is disappointing to see that in this age of divisiveness that we are getting pulled into an argument that doesn’t apply to Chester County.”
President Donald Trump announced in September that resettlement agencies must get written consent from state and local officials in any jurisdiction where they want to help resettle refugees beyond June 2020. Trump has already slashed the number of refugees allowed into the country for the 2020 fiscal year to a historic low of 18,000. About 30,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. during the previous fiscal year.
This month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that his state would no longer admit refugees from the program to resettle there. Governors in 42 other states, including Pennsylvania, have said they will consent to allowing in more refugees, according to the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which works with local agencies throughout the U.S. to resettle refugees.
Fierce debates have occurred in several parts of the country, including North Dakota and Tennessee, over whether to opt into refugee resettlement under the executive order. Many Republican governors have been caught between immigration hardliners and some Christian evangelicals who believe helping refugees is a moral obligation.
After the meeting, Reed spoke with Kichline and Moskowitz, both of whom thanked him for bringing his questions to the meeting so they could address his concerns head-on. Asked by a reporter whether he was satisfied with the commissioners’ responses, Reed said he was. “Absolutely.”
This story contains information from the Associated Press.