Sunday, March 17, 2024
Saturday, March 16, 2024
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Columbia pledges continued cooperation with ICE - One United Lancaster
COLUMBIA — Pitching the measure as a rebuke to Lancaster city enacting a "Welcoming City" ordinance, Columbia Borough Council on Tuesday passed a resolution pledging full cooperation with any and all federal immigration enforcement.
The vote was 6-0; Councilwoman Joanne Price was absent.
Columbia has been cooperating with Immigration & Customs Enforcement all along, city officials and Chief Jack Brommer said, so the resolution doesn't materially alter existing practice. By making an explicit public declaration, however, the borough can signal to its citizens that it is paying attention and that "this is where we stand," Council President Heather Zink said.
Lancaster City Council's action, taken in February, was likewise a codification of already existing policy. For some time, the city has barred elected officials and employees, including police, from asking about immigration status in almost all instances, unless obliged by law or court order.
"I believe that codifying that long-standing policy into an ordinance makes our city a better place because residents will not be afraid to report crimes or make other requests to the city government," Lancaster City Council President Amanda Bakay said.
She expressed disappointment at Columbia's resolution and contended it is based on misinformation about Lancaster's ordinance, "which is plentiful."
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Friday, March 15, 2024
The ‘Criminal Immigrant’ Canard - by Mona Charen
Every study on the subject has shown that since 1960, immigrants are much less likely than native-born Americans to be arrested or convicted of crimes (excluding crimes associated with entry into the country). The right highlights a few cases of murder committed by immigrants, but as Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute shows, undocumented immigrants are 27.7 times less likely to commit homicide than natives, and legal immigrants are 57.1 times less likely.
A Stanford University study of incarceration rates going all the way back to the nineteenth century shows that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes of every description than are the native-born. "Recent waves of immigrants are more likely to be employed, married with children, and in good health," a study author notes. "Far from the rapists and drug dealers that anti-immigrant politicians claim them to be, immigrants today are doing relatively well." Criminologists have consistently found that immigrant-heavy neighborhoods in big cities have less crime, not more crime, than other areas.
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[LNP | LancasterOnline] Residents defend library drag queen story hour at Lancaster County commissioners meeting
About 20 people packed into the Lancaster County commissioners meeting Wednesday, many of them criticizing the two Republican commissioners for their social media posts and public comments against an upcoming Drag Queen Story Hour for children at Lancaster Public Library.
Commenters accused Commissioners Josh Parsons and Ray D'Agostino of willfully misrepresenting the March 23 event for political gain.
"Libraries should be places for kids to safely read and learn, not politicized social laboratories for woke ideology," Parsons wrote [on Facebook].
D'Agostino followed with a similar post Friday on Facebook. "How is it that we wonder why children today are more confused, anxious and stressed than ever when people are trying to push adult themed issues at such an early age?" D'Agostino wrote. "This is about the safety of our children."
[Democratic Commissioner Alice] Yoder said she was excited about the event and thought it was an example for other organizations in the county to provide LGBTQ-friendly events for families.
"I want to make sure that we don't leave here today without the LGBTQ community knowing that I am in support of them in their community and any of the work that needs to be done to support (them), and to particularly focus on children so that their mental health and well-being is well preserved," Yoder said.
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