Editorial roundup

March 28 Stance on immigration

Last week Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero stood with mayors from Birmingham to Buffalo, from Los Angeles to Little Rock, from Chicago to Chapel Hill and from dozens of other American cities in solidarity with immigrants and immigration reform.

The chorus of voices should not be confused with opposition to enforcing the laws of the land, that’s not what the U.S. Conference of Mayors Day of Immigration Action on March 21 was about.

The mayors simply said: We will not round up immigrants and turn them over to federal authorities.

The mayors emphasized that neither they nor their police forces are required by law to be Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and they would not voluntarily accept that role.

Rogero issued her proclamation with Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch standing by her side, nodding in agreement.

She and other members of the Conference of Mayors said they want to make immigrants feel welcome despite federal executive orders that may limit the acceptance of refugees or immigrants.

Understand that Rogero was not declaring Knoxville a sanctuary city, a municipality loosely defined as one that limits how law enforcement cooperates with ICE agents.

As recently as Monday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called for dissolution of sanctuary cities, asking state and local governments to comply with immigration laws. If not, they could face the loss of federal Department of Justice grants.

Knoxville police do not routinely check the immigration status of residents when responding to calls for help. That does not make Knoxville a sanctuary city and that is good for public safety, Rogero said.

The mayor said people should feel comfortable calling police for help when they need it.

“Because our job is to keep the community safe,” Rogero said, “and we cannot do that if people are afraid of calling us when something happens.”

Rausch said there are other issues — such as the prescription drug abuse crisis — that are more pressing in the community than asking someone who has called for help about their immigration status.

The police chief also joins other local law enforcers who believe that immigrants will report crimes in their communities if they do not believe they themselves will be arrested and deported for doing so.

Rogero said some Knoxville residents who are immigrants fear they could be taken away from their children — many of whom are natural-born U.S. citizens.

Many immigrants are in the process of becoming citizens, which takes years, and they should not be kicked out of the country to start anew.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors agrees that our immigration system is broken but asking local law enforcement to run dragnets for immigrants will not fix it.

Let our values of welcoming immigrants continue and work for a comprehensive solution to immigration problems.

That’s what Rogero and the dozens of other mayors were saying. We agree with them.