Thread: R.I. - Cranston will help immigration agents, unlike other cities

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESSSaturday, August 11th 2018


Cranston will help immigration agents, unlike other cities. (WJAR)

Cranston Mayor Allan Fung says he signed an agreement promising to notify the federal government when immigrants in the country illegally are detained by police in his city.

Fung, a Republican candidate for governor, said Friday he signed it this week to ensure that criminals in the country illegally cannot continue to commit crimes.

The federal government is requiring cities receiving public safety grants to notify federal agents when immigrants in the country illegally are being released from police detention.

Providence and Central Falls sued the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday over the conditions. Several states, including Rhode Island, and cities have filed similar suits.

Fung says if elected governor, he'd cooperate with immigration authorities and fight "sanctuary cities."

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo has criticized the Trump administration's immigration policies.

https://turnto10.com/news/local/cran...e-other-cities

By: Ted Nesi
Posted: Aug 15, 2018 02:31 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 15, 2018 02:56 PM EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Allan Fung released a new digital ad on Wednesday that links Rhode Island's high murder rate with illegal immigration, as he pledged to focus on fighting crime if elected.

"Did you know Rhode Island has the highest murder rate in New England?" Fung asks in the ad. "That is unacceptable. It's a lack of leadership. A lack of accountability. And that has to stop." (Statistics show Rhode Island experienced 2.7 murders per 100,000 residents in 2016, with Connecticut next-highest at 2.2; the national rate was 5.3.)

Fung goes on to highlight his clash with the Rhode Island chapter of the ACLU over the right to panhandle on Cranston streets, emphasizes his opposition to "sanctuary cities" for undocumented immigrants and promises to "enforce the law."

Fung's campaign said the ad will air on digital platforms, but indicated no plans to show it on television. The commercial comes just days after Fung broke with the mayors of Providence and Central Falls by signing an agreement to share information related to immigration status with the U.S. Department of Justice.

"In Cranston, we've fought the difficult fights, even when it's politically difficult, to make our neighborhoods safer," Fung said in a statement. "Cranston residents see us trying harder to keep them safe, versus the policies of the governor where she sides with criminals here illegally."

Fung said in April that he would have vetoed a bill, later signed by Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo, that grants driver's licenses to so-called "Dreamers," young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children, as long as they enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program before the Trump administration ended it.

"I am very sympathetic to Dreamers, but the license question is a lot more difficult to answer, because on that I do not support providing driver's licenses to people who are not here legally, because I think we're going to have real issues with the federal Real ID act," Fung said then during an interview on WPRI 12's Newsmakers.

Fung's campaign reiterated Wednesday that if elected he would not issue licenses to anyone in the country illegally. However, Fung spokesman Andrew Augustus said Fung would allow DACA recipients to get licenses as long as a court injunction blocking Trump from ending the program stays in place.

The campaign also said Fung would ensure that immigration officials are notified "when criminals here illegally are to be released after completing their prison sentences." He faces two other Republicans, Patricia Morgan and Giovanni Feroce, in the Sept. 12 gubernatorial primary.

Fung's ad drew immediate criticism from independent gubernatorial candidate Joe Trillo, a former Republican state lawmaker and vociferous critic of illegal immigration.

"I am sure he polled the political issue and learned that most Rhode Islanders do not support shielding illegal immigrants from the law at their expense," Trillo said in a news release. "So, he does what any lying, conniving politician does, he changes his position and hopes no one realizes it."

Trillo specifically cited Fung's sponsorship in 2003, when he was a city councilman, of a resolution supporting that year's Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride.

"The trip, by 900 riders on 18 buses, was inspired by the 1961 freedom rides that sought to integrate bus terminals in the South," The New York Times reported at the time. "Today's riders are pushing for legalizing the status of illegal immigrants, increasing visas for family reunification and stepping up protections for immigrant workers."

Fung was questioned about the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride during the 2014 gubernatorial race, and at the time described it as a bipartisan effort to find a comprehensive solution to the nation's immigration issues. A spokesman said he was looking into whether Fung still holds that position now.

In addition, Trillo characterized the agreement with the Department of Justice that Fung signed last week as "smoke and mirrors," citing a comment by Cranston's police chief that it would not affect the city's day-to-day operations.

Fung has also received criticism from the left over his immigration stances. The leaders of a group called the Cranston Action Network issued a news release Tuesday condemning Fung for "following Donald Trump" on the issue.

"Fostering public distrust for police is the opposite of the culture we would hope to see in Cranston," the group's leaders, Melissa Jenkins and Tom Wojick, wrote. "Immigrants are a vital, valued part of our community, and community safety is not enhanced by diverting police resources towards enforcement of federal immigration status."

https://www.wpri.com/politics/fung-p...ted/1373119064