Thread: PA - Immigration activists removed at City Hall

Michael Matza, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Friday, December 11, 2015, 1:22 PM
POSTED: Friday, December 11, 2015, 1:18 PM

Ten immigrant-rights activists who attempted to block two public entrances at Philadelphia City Hall scuffled fiercely with police Friday before being dragged outside and left to sit among approximately 100 supporters.

After establishing control at one of the doors so people with business in City Hall could enter and exit, police decided there was no reason to make arrests, said Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan, the commander at the scene.

The activists were protesting Mayor Nutter's anticipated change to his 2014 executive order barring law enforcement cooperation between city police or prison officials and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Nutter is expected to roll back that order by authorizing cooperation in certain circumstances.

"Nutter talks stridently and strongly against Trump," said Peter Pedemonti, "but behind closed doors he is changing to a policy that will lead to more deportations, which is what Trumps wants."

Pedemonti is executive director of the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, which sponsored the demonstration.

Some protesters held signs emblazoned Nutter=Trump, trying to link the mayor to the Republican presidential candidate whose anti-immigrant rhetoric has stoked national controversy and drawn harsh criticism from Nutter himself. Others chanted: "Nutter, Nutter, don't be dumb. Don't behave like Donald Trump."

Twenty months ago, amid cheers from immigrant-rights groups, Nutter signed an executive order that ended the city's compliance with federal requests to detain immigrants who otherwise would be released pending trial or after having served their sentences.

The policy on detainer requests, known on the street as "ICE holds," barred city police and prison officials from cooperating with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

It was the product of months of lobbying by immigration activists, who hailed it as one of the most progressive anti-deportation policies in the nation, and said it turned Philadelphia into a so-called sanctuary city.

Last month, after deputy mayor for public safety Everett Gillison revealed that Nutter, will roll back the order, the rights groups cried foul.

Under the amended order that Nutter is expected to sign before he leaves office next month, local-federal cooperation will be renewed in cases where an individual is suspected or convicted of: gang activity; illegal possession of a fire arm; drug trafficking; murder; rape; robbery or aggravated assault. Cooperation also will be extended if an individual is suspected of terrorism or espionage.

Activists contend the proposed changes will tear apart families through deportations, erode trust between immigrants and the local police and waste municipal resources.

Supporters of the new order call it common sense. "If a person is suspected of being a terrorist, and they happen to be in our custody," Gillison said in an interview, "are you telling me that we don't want to tell the feds?"

Mayor-elect Jim Kenney, who campaigned on staunch support for immigrants, has vowed to reinstate the sanctuary city policy when he takes office in January.

So why demonstrate now?

To loudly clarify the state of play for some immigrants who are confused by Nutter's change of mind, said Pedemonti and to cover their bets.

"Kenney has been awesome," he said, "but we'd prefer not to have to gamble."

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20...City_Hall.html

This is just outrageous that Philadelphia of all places would have mayors catering and pandering to illegal immigrants of any kind, let alone dangerous criminals. This is just insanity and the Mayor-elect Kennedy is a dangerous fool.

Philadelphia has so much poverty, it has ghettos filled with poor destitute black Americans trapped in grotesque poverty for generations that would break your heart to see. I lived there, I know, and for any job or even 1 dollar of benefit to go to any immigrant instead of Americans, let alone to illegal aliens, is just a sin, a terrible terrible sin against our own people.

Philadelphia is a beautiful city and its developers have done a great job revitalizing the city in many sections, but these areas of course benefit upper middle class wealthy residents, workers and tourists to the city, they unfortunately don't change the ghetto sections because they don't create the types or volume of jobs that can reach these people. It may trickle to a few, but too few to mention. You need jobs that lower and no income people can qualify to be hired. Women will need day care and a clothes budget. Men will need attire. People who have nothing have a hard time getting a job. They don't have phones, they don't have computers, more often than not, they don't even have utilities because they're cut off so often because they can't pay the bill, which means they can't wash or take showers. This level of poverty in our inner cities is a crime by our government. This was never supposed to happen in the United States that couldn't be solved quickly on a case by case basis. There are millions and millions of Americans at this point in this situation which will take a phenomenal program of policies to solve, fix and make sure never happens again.

Two of the primary policies that need to be reversed are of course free trade treason that sucks the jobs out and the massive immigration programs that bring foreigners in to steal the jobs and resources that should have gone to Americans.

People In (immigration) + Jobs Out (free trade treason) = Bankrupt Nation

The sanctuary city status has enabled thousands to live, take jobs, have babies while our citizens are unemployed from the restaurant dishwashers to the IT college educated. They push this multi-culturism thing in all cultural centers also - God forbid something is USA related. Actually with all the foreigners allowed into this country, they should be pushing our history instead to educate them on how this country became as great as it is and why THEY want to be here.

This is a democratic party and federal gov't plot that was planned. The Italian Market had 2 full blocks boarded up for a couple of years - no for rent signs - in other words "held". Held for the massive drop of illegals under bush. They have an instant community with asian property owners renting sardine houses to them, places of business, all restaurant BOH positions, landscaping, construction & white collar jobs also. And we are forced to pay for schooling of the multitude of illegal children - over breeding because it is for "free" and so much more money monthly per child.

A few years ago in mid August, it was a designated day for I think the dreamer thing - a federal police marked car sat all day with officers at the Italian Market - it is federally connected. Kenney lives near the market and would not be surprised if he recommended the spot to set the mexicans up. They really would have been more suited to the badlands of north philly where they speak the same language.

When councilman, Kenny spoke of working to make Philadelphia a direct immigrant spot for africans and other muslim countries. I could not believe what I was reading. He was upset that other cities were getting these immigrants.

People leave the city for suburban sprawl etc but after a while, they and their offsprings want to return and be in the city, In giving our precious historical cities away to ingrates, one is being short-sighted or has ulterior motives, such as the globalist agenda and the drop dead American citizens thing - we'll just make you pay for it all.

And far too many Republicans were bought into it. Shameful.