Thread: MO-Immigration bill raises concern in St. Ann

Immigration bill raises concern in St. Ann
State law forbids sanctuary for illegal immigrants





By Scott Bandle
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 10:43 AM CDT



St. Ann officials are willing to listen to concerns from the Hispanic community before amending the city's code to bring it in line with a new state law. The law forbids Missouri municipalities from adopting a sanctuary policy for illegal immigrants.

The new law requires cities to use their administrative and police departments as enforcement tools to report illegal immigrants to immigration officials.

"We're concerned that these ordinances will feed any anti-immigration feeling in the city," said attorney John Ammann with the Legal Clinic of the St. Louis University Law School. "Right now, we're discussing things with St. Ann. Other than that, we have no other comment."

St. Ann City Attorney Steve Garrett recently met with Ammann and other representatives.

"We've sat down and listened to their concerns," he said. "They have some problems with certain provisions. They'll be sending us concerns about the law. Right now, we're waiting for them to get back to us."

Amending a city code to bring it in line with a new state law is a common practice among cities to help avoid any confusion, Garrett said.

But the state provides no funding for carrying out the law.

For example, if the police find illegal immigrants during a traffic stop, they must feed and house them while they wait for immigration officials to take custody of them, City Administrator Matt Conley said.

"It's an example of an unfunded mandate," he said. "The state passes the law, then expects the cities to pay for it. I don't think it's our job to be in the business as the enforcer for the state of Missouri."

However, failure to adopt the state law will make the city ineligible for any future grants from any state agency, said Mayor Gary Guittar.

"If you don't, you can lose funding for development," he said. "Besides, it's in the state law. We have to amend our code or we can lose the grants."

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/ar ... tuary0.txt

"We've sat down and listened to their concerns," he said. "They have some problems with certain provisions. They'll be sending us concerns about the law. Right now, we're waiting for them to get back to us."

Oh gosh. The illegal alien community has some concerns and problems with the legislation. Well, since the city of St. Ann is sitting down and discussing this with Hispanic foreign nationals, why don't they ask people from France, Canada, and Iran? If citizens from Mexico, or other Latin countries, apparently have a say in our local laws and politics, why should St. Anns not listen to the opinions of anyone else in the world? They are listening to and considering the opinions of foreign nationals who have illegally invaded our country and broken our laws.

No matter how much I hear this bs, it continues to amaze me.