The City of Miami is included among twenty-one cities and counties, several of which are sanctuary cities, that have pledged to make one million US immigrants American citizens by the end of 2017.
These cities are involved in the Naturalize Now initiative. The initiative aims at preventing illegal immigrants from deportation under the Trump administration immigration policy. Although President Trump is not against legal immigration, he has promised to crack down on illegal residency in the U.S. The focus of his administration is deporting undocumented immigrants who are criminals.
The other cities/counties
Other municipalities in the initiative include: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Cleveland, OH; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Dayton, OH; Jersey City, NJ; Knoxville, TN; Los Angeles, CA; Montgomery County, MD; Paterson, NJ; Pittsburgh, PA; New York City, NY; Salt Lake County, UT; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, CA; South Gate, CA & Tucson, AZ.
Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles and other progressive elected officials have joined in the path to citizenship effort.
“We celebrate our independence on July 4, and honor the values of freedom, justice, unity, and equality that make us who we are,” Garcetti said.
Stronger US laws
The House of Representatives passed two immigration bills June 29, “Kate’s Law” and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act. The bills exact harsher penalties on those who re-enter the US after being deported. They also put pressure on local governments to cooperate with feds on immigration enforcement.
According to the Washington Examiner, the groups and elected officials behind the Naturalize Now initiative are tieing their campaign to patriotic American holidays like the Fourth of July.
Miami, Miami-Dade County not official sanctuary cities
Neither the City of Miami or Miami-Dade County are formerly designated as sanctuary cities. These cities are so designated because they offer sanctuary to undocumented residents against deportation. The mayors of Miami and Miami-Dad County are dedicating themselves to ensuring documented immigrants have access to becoming citizens by year’s end,
Copyright 2017 – Caribbean National Weekly News
