Example Letter 1
(added 28 January, 2017)
[your address] [date]
The Fugitive Slave Act, passed by Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 required that any slaves who escaped to the north and were captured were to be returned to their former owners. It further required officials and citizens of Free states to cooperate with the law. The law led to outrage in the North, with protests, resistance and defiance. Abolitionists risked severe fines for harboring or feeding escaped slaves. Federal marshals were dispatched to Free states to recapture former slaves.
President Trump has issued an executive order that will hire an additional 10,000 immigration officers and also halt funding to municipalities that do not cooperate with immigration officials. Similar to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, municipal officials are directed to comply with federal officials.
Section 8, paragraph b, of the Executive order authorizes federal-state agreements:
“…to authorize State and local law enforcement officials, as the Secretary determines are qualified and appropriate, to perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States under the direction and the supervision of the Secretary”.
A number of counties and cities (and a few states) have made it clear they will not be part of a federal government crackdown that could easily turn into harassment, racial and ethnic profiling, and countermand law enforcement agencies that rely on the cooperation of immigrants (legal AND undocumented) to report crimes and cooperate with local police.
Yes, sanctuary communities are the modern version of the abolitionists of the 1850s. Please stand firm and don’t back down. Sanctuary communities are on the right side of history.
Sincerely, [your name]
No comments:
Post a Comment