Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum says it’s wrong to make cities choose between “security and compassion” when it comes to immigration. The rising Democratic star and potential gubernatorial candidate is pushing back on a Presidential Executive order.
The definition of a sanctuary city is broad: but it usually applies to those with some sort of policy or law in place that governs interactions with federal immigration enforcement agencies. Tallahassee has no such language on its books, but officials say the city is also not going to go out of its way to enforce the immigration mandates coming out of President Donald Trump’s administration. A recent presidential executive order would restrict some federal funding to sanctuary cities.
In a statement, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum says the order criminalizes people based on their immigration status.
"These are working people who pay taxes in our country," Gillum writes. "They are attending public schools alongside our children and graduating as valedictorians and standout students. They are critical members of our local, state and national economy, and contribute to the culture of our society. A decision between security or compassionate immigration policy are false choices, we can have them both.”
Trump has promised to reduce illegal immigration and has made a series of moves to do that—in addition to the executive order on sanctuary cities, he has signed other orders mandating the construction of a wall along the U.S. Southern border---how that wall would be paid for is still unclear. Florida, is one of the top states for undocumented immigration.
