Part II: How Sanctuary Cities invite disaster

Sanctuary Cities are an undeniable Democratic invention. A blue Frankenstein’s Monster.

I can’t think of a migration sanctuary jurisdiction — city, county, state — that is not run by soft-headed Democrats.

It was not always so.

Hapless Joe Biden was the first Democratic President to not condemn illegal immigration.

His position might have been birthed by empathy, but it was political poison. He created the illegal migrant tsunami, then opted for wave-them-in border enforcement. That infuriated American voters just slightly less than the inflated economy. Border control was one of the two hot-button issues that cost Democrats the election, and it was self-inflicted.

Will Democrats learn a lesson from this, as most of them learned that their “defund the police” idea was a huge blunder?

Before Joe, there was Barack Obama, and what he had to say about illegals you can read at the top of this column. 

That was less than a decade ago and he spoke without wiggle words. 

Let’s go back to 1995, and listen to President Bill Clinton's State of the Union address, condemning the wave of “illegal aliens” who have taken Americans’ jobs, soaked up social services, and all that must be stopped, he said, to cheers. 

He pledged strong enforcement of our immigration laws, and heavy deportations.

A few years later, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer  said, “Illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple.” 

And “when we use phrases like ‘undocumented workers,’ we convey a message to the American people that their government is not serious about combating illegal immigration which the American people overwhelmingly oppose.”

His stand  wasn’t particularly brave, because two-thirds of Americans oppose Sanctuary Cities, according to Investors Business Daily, and other sources. 

Were these traditional Democrats mean-spirited? 

No. Like me, they were for immigration — but legal, regulated immigration. I don’t know exactly when Democratic leadership jumped the tracks.

In supporting their own position, Open Borders advocates often fall back upon Biblical verse, talking about “welcoming the stranger.”

But even those going to heaven get stopped at the gate by St. Peter. No one gets in unvetted.

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In my previous column, I mentioned the ramifications of uncontrolled immigration. Here I will fill in the details.

In a 2023 Gallup Global survey, 170 million foreigners said they would come here if they could.

That would add another 50% to our population, almost overnight.

As someone who loves America, I can understand people wanting to be here. Where else is there greater freedom and opportunity?

But — and here I address the Open Borders loons — where would they live, when we already have a housing crisis here?

Where would they find jobs, all 170 million of them?

Oh, let’s say they are not all adults. Where would the children go to school, in our already underperforming school system? Imagine the added stress on teachers and the resulting tumbling down of test scores.

If the new arrivals get sick, where will they get treatment, as we watch hospitals close around us, and experience a current shortage of doctors?

Think of the United States as a lifeboat with 330 million  seats. We might be able to handle 30 million more passengers, but 170 million would sink us. It would be national suicide.

We could not survive it, but that is exactly what Open Borders would do to us.

Not to mention the security problem created by up to 20 million illegals from dozens of countries, some of them unfriendly to America.

These are the real-life repercussions of uncontrolled immigration.

Philadelphia has an estimated 50,000 illegals.

Imagine another 50,000 arriving.

Our sanctimonious City leaders say we are a “welcoming city.” Could we welcome another 50,000, could we absorb them?

Of course not, but the Open Borders loons don’t care. They want no one deported. If someone arrives illegally and can stay forever — that is Open Borders. And Open Borders is national suicide. 

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While Open Borders advocates always claim, correctly, that illegals commit fewer crimes than native-born, we know the number is not zero.

We can name Laken Riley, among others, and the City Journal does not poo-pooh crime by illegals. 

Seeking clarification of where Mayor Cherelle Parker stands on the Sanctuary City status she is now seeking to slither away from, last December 4 I emailed the mayor’s office this question:

Given that NYC Mayor Eric Adams is asking City Council to reform the city’s Sanctuary City status, and given the turmoil and cost to other Sanctuary Cities, does Mayor Parker have any plans to change Philadelphia’s sanctuary status?

I would request an explanation for either “yes” or “no.”

I received a reply on Monday, June 2, six months later, from press secretary Joe Grace:

We didn't change anything. The city's been a Welcoming City since 2016.

That did not answer my question about future plans. It was also untrue. “We are a Sanctuary City,” giggled knucklehead Mayor Jim Kenney while doing a moronic jig in his office in 2018. That was after President Donald J. Trump failed to cut federal funds from the city. As I reported in the last column, he is back — and succeeding this time.

And while Grace did not say so, if the “welcome” extends to illegal immigrants, it also applies to fentanyl smugglers, rapists, car jackers, pedophiles, murderers, terrorists, and thieves among them.

I try not to live by delusion. I believe that a majority of Philadelphians approve of the Sanctuary status. They approve of it because, like Biden, they are using their heart, and not their head. They haven’t thought it through.

I think if they understood that it means the city does not hand over even convicted foreign felons to ICE, they might feel differently. And this is current city policy.

(The city says it will turn them over if provided with a judicial order, which is almost impossible for ICE to get for technical reasons.)

Sanctuary Cities impede enforcement of immigration law. Most Americans understand that. In some Sanctuary locations citizens are attacking ICE as they arrest illegals. Under the law, no one has a right to come here without permission.

Most Democrats think that ignoring the law is OK if that aligns with their idea of virtue.

Democrats favorable rating among Americans is 29%, according to recent polling. Their addiction to impeding law enforcement, like through Sanctuary Cities, will keep them there.