Thread: Iowa City weighs immigrant issues

City weighs immigrant issues


The Iowa City Council is taking a cautious approach to new recommendations put forth by the Human Rights Commission, which is aiming to make the city more welcoming to legal and illegal immigrants.

The council and commission met in a joint work session Monday, six months after council members, citing the legal complications with federal law, declined to move forward on a so-called Sanctuary City ordinance that would have offered protections to illegal immigrants.

The commission's series of nine new recommendations was met with mixed reaction from the council, with some members expressing a desire to build bridges with the immigrant community while at the same time leery of overstepping the role of a municipality.

We're talking about some communities that don't have a voice right now," council member Mike Wright said. "And I think it's incumbent upon this council to take careful deliberation on these issues."

Among the measures proposed by the commission is an ordinance stating the city would work cooperatively with Homeland Security but not operate its municipal programs for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws, and ensuring city services are available to all residents regardless of immigration status.

Other recommendations include clarifying to employees and the public what types of identification are needed to access city services, training police on ethnic profiling and creating a new review committee to address immigrants' concerns.

Dianne Day, chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission, said the recommendations are "implementable, pragmatic, low-cost and will work to strengthen the Iowa City community for all of us."

The council did not move forward on any specific measures but instead passed the proposal on to city staff, which will study the issues and report back to council. The commission asked the council to vote on the recommendations before the November election, but it's unclear whether there will be enough time to do so.

Council member Susan Mims said while she wants to foster a safe environment and ensure access to city services for all, she is concerned about any moves that would cause Iowa City to be labeled a "sanctuary city."

Mayor Matt Hayek said the community can do more to overcome the barriers causing some to be reluctant in expressing a grievance, but he wasn't comfortable with a recommendation that the City Council issue a proclamation calling for federal immigration reform and denouncing the Secure Communities program.

"My feeling is that as a general matter, it's not appropriate for city government to pass judgment on federal matters," Hayek said. "It can create precedence we don't fully appreciate, and it opens us up to explaining why we're weighing in on a federal matter of one kind but not another."

Council members also questioned the necessity of forming a new immigrant review committee at a time when the city is looking at paring back its existing boards and commissions because of the amount of staff time required and the difficulty filling them.

"I would like to see it be subset of the Human Rights Commission in some way rather than adding another one," Mims said.

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20 ... 0306/1079/

you are going Nuts
NO amnesty

The Iowa City Council is taking a cautious approach to new recommendations put forth by the Human Rights Commission, which is aiming to make the city more welcoming to legal and illegal immigrants.

The city council should be charged with breaking federal law! Crooks!!!