Your new post is loading...
Council members received applause Monday evening after they unanimously approved a resolution opposing the “zero tolerance” approach to immigration, under which an identified 2,654 migrant children were taken from their parents following illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings.
In their resolution, Doylestown Borough officials accused the Trump administration of pursuing the “zero tolerance” policy “to deter families from entering the United States and as a bargaining chip to force a broader immigration agenda that limits legal immigration.”
The borough resolution also includes provisions sympathetic to migrant families, saying “criminalizing all immigrants who have fled the violence and poverty in their homelands undermines due process” and “misrepresents the motives and aspirations of the vast majority of immigrants who take seriously the inscription on the Statue of Liberty — Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’”
Comprehensive immigration reform is imperative, borough officials noted, but should not be achieved at the expense of children’s welfare. They called in their resolution for Congress and federal officials to commit to “good faith negotiations” so that reform can ”(honor) due process, (preserve) the value of family reunification, (adhere) to international human rights principles and (acknowledge) the root causes compelling immigration.”
The borough also called on Gov. Tom Wolf and other Pennsylvania officials to ensure no state resources are used “in any way to support or facilitate” family separations.
Wolf was among a handful of state governors to agree, saying in late June he would not deploy National Guard troops to further the “zero tolerance” policy.
Borough Manager John Davis said said he was not aware of any other municipalities that had approved and mailed similar resolutions concerning the immigration policy.
