You know, it's a sad commentary, at this stage of our country's existance, that its controversial, or even necessary for a city to pass a resolution, making it clear it abides by the Rule of Law. Who wants to move into a city/location where the rule is the city will decide what laws they will abide by, and which ones they won't. What a great selling point...
move here, we accept and support criminal conduct----------------------------------------------
Council declares Costa Mesa a 'Rule of Law City'BY CINDY CARCAMO and ELLYN PAK
5/19/10COSTA MESA ? The City Council made it clear Tuesday night that people who are in the country illegally are not welcome in their city.
Council members voted to pass a resolution declaring Costa Mesa a "Rule of Law City" at the behest of Mayor Allan Mansoor, who has long been known as a vocal opponent of illegal immigration.
"I have a lot of concerns with cities calling themselves sanctuary cities," Mansoor said before the vote. "It's important we state that we do not support illegal immigration."
Mansoor's proposal was met with comments from five public speakers, all of whom criticized it. Some said the declaration would paint the city in a bad light and polarize the community. Others called the resolution a political move by Mansoor in his bid for the state Assembly.
The council voted 4-0 in favor of the declaration. Council member Katrina Foley was absent.
Councilwoman Wendy Leece said
she supported the resolution, stating that the city's relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city jail has helped reduce crime.
"This is just validating and reinstating the federal immigration law that we already follow," she said.
Before the vote, Counciman Eric Bever suggested expanding the declaration.
"I would suggest we are a rule of law city regarding all laws," Bever said.
Mansoor explained he wanted to make a specific point about illegal immigration.
Mansoor propelled himself and his city into the front lines of the immigration debate about five years ago with his stance against illegal immigration.
He made national headlines when he aligned himself with the Minuteman Project, targeted day laborers and pushed for a program that trained officers to perform some duties of federal immigration agents.
Ultimately, an ICE agent was placed at the city jail to check the immigration status of inmates who are suspected of being in the country illegally.
Mansoor said that Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law didn't play a part in his proposal and that action in his city is long overdue.
Mansoor and the city are known for leading the way in the county's fight against illegal immigration.
However, earlier this year, he came under fire by anti-illegal immigration activists after it was discovered that the city isn't using a 6-year-old federal program called E-Verify, which is intended to weed out employees who are working in the country illegally.
At the time, he said other issues had taken priority and that he hadn't gotten around to proposing E-Verify as mandatory for the city and its contractors.
About two months later, he announced a press conference where he said he sought more stringent policies, from requiring Costa Mesa businesses to verify a workers' immigration status to allowing police officers to check legal status and valid identification of unlicensed drivers, especially when ICE agents are not present at the jail.
"I want to bring something forward in the next couple of months to start looking at some new policies," Mansoor said. "I've done a lot of research on my own. And I'm going to bring it forward in a manner that's doable."
A step in the right direction
