Many people have voiced strong opinions about undocumented immigrants and their effects on our community, yet, I’m going to guess that most have never met or spoken to one of these people.
Outside of Fox News, Howie Carr or The Huffington Post, where are folks getting their information? At the Dec. 7 Easthampton City Council meeting, city officials indicated that it is likely that undocumented people have been living and working in our community for decades. Surely we must have statistics of all of the crimes that they have allegedly committed.
There were speakers with very strong positions who were clearly afraid of the crime wave that would be inflicted upon our good city; they were deeply concerned about the flood of illegal immigrants that a “sanctuary city” designation would create.
On that note, how do we know that undocumented people even want the designation of “sanctuary city?” It is my understanding, based on information from someone who works with new immigrants, that the classification of “sanctuary city” actually creates an unsafe atmosphere for these people – because they are afraid that it will bring additional federal scrutiny upon the community.
Perhaps they would rather remain under the radar so that they can continue to live, work, and raise their families? I think both sides are approaching this issue from a position of fear – fear of immigrants and fear of Trump – and fear is not a great way to govern or to be governed.
Fear in itself creates misinformation intrinsically; we need a rational, deliberate, and compassionate understanding of the immigrants in our community.
Stanley McCoy
Easthampton