Kingston Mayor Steve Noble.
Several weeks ago, a divided Common Council committee approved a resolution pushed by Mayor Steve Noble to declare Kingston a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants.
The resolution reaffirms what Noble and Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti said was a longstanding unwritten policy that suggests city cops not inquire about the immigration status of civilians they come into contact with on routine matters.
The Common Council will vote on the resolution declaring Kingston a “sanctuary city” at its January 10 meeting.
What do you think?
Should Kingston be declared a "sanctuary city"?
- Yes (51%, 1,639 Votes)
- No (49%, 1,555 Votes)
Total Voters: 3,194
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YES. without question.
madness for people here who use ‘kindness, generosity, compassion’ as reasons. How about those who are here……no compassion for them? How about the fact that NY state , forget about the fed, is broke…yet we need to be ‘generous’ to those who are not citizens while those who are legal citizens struggle everyday to provide a safe home for their families, pay their taxes…provide for our society? What do you not understand about ‘illegal’?? There is a path for citizenship, one which many are in line for…..yet we should provide for those who skip the legal way? How about putting our citizens first? How about honoring our borders? I’m all for being altruistic though not at the expense of my fellow citizens…. those who want in, get in line.
We have to fight Trump’s agenda of discrimination. I vote YES!! to making Kingston a sanctuary city. I think people need to ask themselves What if it were me?
If it were me, I wouldn’t have broken the law. I married an immigrant. She waited in line and came legally. We are both insulted by this.
So you are not a resident of Kingston and that makes your input moot.
Nonsense. As a resident of this State, my tax dollars will be spent on illegal aliens given illegal sanctuary in your city.
your comment shows the shallowness of your knowledge of the topic…we all, all citizens of the US, pay the cost of illegal immigration. Some families have paid the highest cost…lost their loved ones at the hands of criminals who cross the border as if none exists.
Everyone’s opinion should be welcomed. Diverse opinions count, don they.
Designation as a Sactuary City is about protecting people who might be viewed as potential illegal immigrants from being detained until they can prove citizenship.
What if your wife lost her purse and was held in jail until someone could find you to bring her ID? What if she was routinely stopped because she might be an illegal immigrant?
Not worried about that? Welcome to America.
It’s a pathetic commentary on our own loss of pride in our country yet an absolute necessity that we designate Sanctuary Cities. Until such times that we return to our senses and push back on bigotry and discrimination Sanctuary Cities are the resistance to the un-American values being promoted by the president elect and his team.
Europia is not real
Eutopia
It’s just a bunch of Muslims voting several times.
That’s the truth, I want Kingston to remain a safe place to shop and walk the streets
The system only allows you to vote once. Go ahead – try to vote against it more than once. You won’t be allowed. For the record, I voted for it in the poll and I’m not Muslim. I don’t think that is relevant to this issue.
You are absolutely correct, John. We don’t need an advertised invitation to “come to Kingston.”‘ Name a positive aspect of this concept!
One positive outcome is that people who might be suspected of being undocumented (whether or not they actually are) will not be afraid to call the police if they are the victim of a crime. Even if one is here legally, they might choose not to call the police to report a crime for fear that the police will focus on their immigration status instead. This resolution will prevent that.
good for you John, as you ought to be.
Dear John, there are places and times where there is literally no line to wait in. If there was, people wouldn’t risk their lives and go deep into debt to get smuggled across the border and put their lives in danger. People wouldn’t leave their families and all their loved ones and know that they can’t ever go visit a sick relative, or bury a family member at home, because they fear not being able to come back and continue to support their families. Our political history and economic policies have effects on the rest of the world and it’s not fair to say, “we’ll take your cheap goods and flood your market with our cheap goods” without recognizing that human beings are being affected. We have not reformed our immigration system to even allow for immigrant workers THAT WE NEED to work here seasonally (more than half of all agricultural workers are undocumented) to be able to come here legally with a VISA. It is just not that simple. Don’t blame immigrants for an immigration system that needs to be reformed and that has failed to manage immigration from the global South. It’s not their fault. Blame the people who have consistently failed to make progress on immigration reform. Blame the corporations that refuse to let farmers and worker org’s make progress together on a worker visa program (look up Ag Jobs). Blame the corporations that refuse to support immigration legislation because if they did they would have to employ more residents and citizens and less undocumented workers. But don’t blame immigrants. There is no line to wait on for them.
“agenda of discrimination”? please explain…sounds like silly talk.
If you mean his plan to protect our sovereignty as a nation, what do you find troublesome?
Wait until Somali Town and Little Baghdad “no-go zones” spring up!!!
…and if you don’t know what Im talking of, WAKE UP…
Kingston should not be declared a sanctuary city. The people in question are by definition breaking the law, when did this become acceptable? And what other laws will we now be able to break? Who will pay for these people? Who will provide jobs for these people when we already have many who are unemployed? Health care? Emergency services, utilities? Why do people from other nations who are in this country illegally deserve our respect and our care when are own people who are in need do not? This is unacceptable, when we have solved our own problems, then we can consider the problems of others.
Don’t kill yourself.
Of course, you are right. WE will be stuck paying for their needs.
Just schools alone — we spend average about $25,000 per year per kid in Kingston School District.
So ONE illegal family with three children will cost us $75,000/yr. Times twelve years is what? Over a million dollars.
Kingston CSD spends $26,200 per pupil, but your reasoning is incorrect.
Per pupil spending is based on total budget / total enrollment, which includes many fixed costs. “Incremental” student costs are much different. A new general education student could, for example, cost a district nearly nothing.
And local taxes do not comprise all revenue. The property tax levy in Kingston is 62% of the total revenue budget.
So, some calculations. The formula the state used for aid places an incremental student instructional cost at roughly $6,000.
$6,000 * 62% = $3,720 on the local taxpayer.,
$3,720 / 23,198 housing units in the district = $0.16 per housing unit per year for each new student.
Bernardo: This is not even close to correct.
Also, most undocumented folks pay taxes. This fact has been documented by non-partisan research institutes and the US government. They pay more in taxes than the wealthiest Americans. If you really want to get angry about people living in this country, using our resources, and not contributing financially to them, you really ought to direct that towards high income earners and large corporations.
Just how do illegals pay taxes? They don’t own homes but they have plenty of money for big screen TVs, cell phones and the most expensive clothes and sneakers-must be by way of sales tax because they don’t pay payroll taxes working off the books.
Sanctuary City laws are enacted to protect law abiding citizens. People who look like immigrants should be able to walk down the street without fear of being detained.
It’s what we in America the world’s melting pot is all about. It’s a pathetic that we need to designate Sanctuary Cities. For now we do need these designations. Cities through out the country should designate ASAP.
United We Stand.
That’s a load of crap and you know it. Regular people have proof- nice try.
Kingston is a “sanctuary ” city already. Always has been. Was never a problem until we had a turnover in population numbers and ethnic diversity. Look it up.
Kingston NY population by year.
I just posted a link to this poll on my Facebbok page, and a significant number of people who wanted to vote YES have commented that they were unable to access the poll. Has it closed? Are you still accepting comments? Because I am one of many, MANY Hudson Valley residents who feel it’s essential to assert our humanity and generosity in helping our neighbors whose lives may be endangered by the coming regime. Please give us the chance to add our impassioned YES on this important issue.
Thanks!
YES! Want to register my yes vote and want to point out the lack of window of opportunity to vote.
YES Kingston should be a sanctuary city. The racist, fear-mongering policies of the president-elect helped him eke out a victory in the Electoral College, but they didn’t fly in Ulster County, which went to HRC. Likewise, the local police force – which I respect and admire – should not be employed to enforce Gestapo-inspired Federal tactics to whitewash our populace.
No need to protect lawbreaking freeloaders. Just paying for ELL services for their kids costs schools across the state billions of dollars a year.
yes
Cruel person.
Yes
Sanctuary City of Kingston, NY!! This would make me proud.
No place in this country should be a sanctuary city
Agreed! Our entire nation should be a sanctuary.
Well played, Nick!
<3
Then you can pay for these freeloaders. What do Mexicans need sanctuary from?
You are so right The Muslims have got on this page and are voting several times for a yes vote! Keep them out!
I am truly sorry. I don’t have a very exciting life and I just enjoy trolling every once in a while. I say things about muslims as a nervous tick.
I’m totally against Kingston being a sanctuary city it’s a breeding ground for illegals!
When Kingston New York LOOSES it’s FEDERAL FUNDING YOU PEOPLE THAT VOTED FOR IT WILL BE TO BLAM!!!
OMG – so putting aside your below par grammar, punctuation and spelling skills, let me ask you this.
If you were out of work, would you accept a job cleaning other people’s bathrooms, killing poultry/cows/pigs and then cleaning up the kill floor – and then taking your wages and sending them to your family in your home country?
These people are working to better their lives and are not sitting around waiting for their disability check. Most have a better work ethic than the fat, lazy, white Americans who sit around and bitch about them.
Yes, yes, YES!
Possible technical problem however – voting “yes” on this poll does not work very well – not sure if the vote registered? I have no idea if it works for “no” however and I’m not going to try it :/
Please fix the poll, or let readers know if it’s closed. Thanks!
Sure. Go ahead Kingston. Simply ignore Federal Law. Who needs laws? If you don’t like a law, just ignore it. Fantastic idea!
You no live here – you illegal immigrant.
“OMG – so putting aside your below par grammar, punctuation….”
We would be voting to reaffirm the Constitution of the United States of America. What part of that is a problem for you?
There is no federal law saying that Kingston law enforcement, who are not trained in reading immigration documents, have to ask about immigration status or be proxies for ICE. In fact, states and municipalities who require their law enforcement to do that are putting them at risk of civil rights violations by invading the privacy of people who are legally allowed to be here.
So far the arguments I’ve observed are very polarized either towards utopian fantasy/naïveté or racist bigotry. The reality behind setting up “safe havens” is far more sinister. Supporting this idea is essentially giving a nod to modern indenture servitude and systematic victimization. Illegal aliens know they are illegal; therefore, cannot seek the protection afforded to citizens. This means opportunistic predators use these people as a discount work force such as manual labor (I.e.landscapers, construction) or domestic servitude (I.e. housekeepers, nannies, kitchen help) maximizing their own profits while affording these people below minimum wage payments and no benefits. It gets worse though…Sanctuary cities become breeding grounds for human trafficking and sex slavery. Keep that in mind when voting.
See your point. Not sure if it’s relevant to a Sanctuary City. All the law would call for is that people who might be considered immigrants would not be able to be held by police solely because they might be immigrants and therefore illegal immigrants.
A person who is an American Citizen who has an accent or dress style or color of skin that triggers a police officer to think the person may be from another country should not be put in jail until they can prove citizenship. (With the question of citizenship being the only reason for the person being detained.) No one wants to fight this fight on a case by case basis, that is why Sanctuary City designation is so important.
Not true. The mayor’s proposal will simply codify into law a practice that the city police are already doing – not asking about the immigration status of people they interact with. This provides a greater measure of safety for undocumented residents – they can call the police if they are a victim of a crime or need police support in some other way. Converse to what you are saying, all residents, regardless of immigration status, will have greater access to protection by law enforcement without the fear of being reported to ICE.
Mexicans themselves are trafficing their own women and girls already- big problem in states bordering Mexico. Let’s just allow and encourage this ILLEGAL behavior. What you folks don’t get is you are facilitating crime.
So kingston received funding for having a drug problem. Will these funds disappear if it were made a sanctuary city ? Also if the city of Kingston decided not to prosecute immigration laws doesn’t this make the mayor guilty of hindering prosecution of ice ?
Nope, funding won’t change. They won’t stand in the way of ICE.
Question: Do you want your property taxes to double?
Question: Do you agree with this statement:
All nations have the absolute moral right to stand at the gate and decide who comes in and who is turned away. Yes or no?
Irrelevant to Sanctuary City status.
absolutely not irrelevant, how is it even possibly irrelevant when you want to openly invite anyone-citizen or not, illegal or not, to live here, stay here, follow or not follow the laws of our city, state, country? and have no recourse to determine their citizenship or status…..or while you’re at it, their possible criminal history?
Bernardo,
How would our property taxes double if we did not enforce a Federal regulation?
Agreed that nations have the right, be it moral or immoral to decide who comes in, which makes this issue a FEDERAL issue, and not a LOCAL issue. Kingston is NOT a nation, it is a city.
And don’t you have any relations that were immigrants, or are all of your relations Native Americans?
My family came here legally, became citizens and learned English. They did not sneak across the border. They got jobs legally and worked hard. This is what should be expected of all legal immigrants.
Every one of my forbears was in search of sanctuary, of one kind or another, in this land. Some of them were fleeing outright persecution. May we never forget how ancestors ended up here; may we never forget that offering sanctuary and hospitality to those in need is the greatest and oldest spiritual wisdom we have.
Preach, girl.
My family arrived in 1633. Persecuted and without proper papers. Just saying.
So you know this did you 1633 Grandfather tell you. Your a MUSLIM being deceitful like they are taught to do!
Ok. We can all have thoughtful discussion without calling people Muslim for no reason. This kind of attack isn’t just irrelevant but not really effective. How about you prove she is an imposter Muslim just like you are requesting she prove her grandfather’s heritage, okay?
I’m sure Lea has enough evidence to prove her own history.
My ancestors came here years back. I have one diary from one of my Dutch ancestors and in his diary we had translated, he wrote about his experiences chopping wood. He wrote, “People keep yelling at me to speak English.” Guess some things really don’t change.
I’m afraid that you might be deluded islamophobe. First of all, there are many documented immigrants in America who are Muslims, and there are many people who have been here for centuries who are Muslims, stop making this about Muslims. You were being monomaniacal and bizarre.
But did they come here legally or sneak across the border?
My ancestors came here a long time ago, bought land from the Dutch who took it from the natives
—-are we still illegal? Lets welcome smart, hardworking immigrants and refugees and make it legal again!
Don’t mistake sanctuary with amnesty. It’s not the same thing. At all. And why do you think it’s going to double property taxes? Or bring sex trafficing? Human slavery? We could all use some classes in civics at this point. Decency might be a nice topic as well.
Yeah!!
No. If you are here illegally, It is illegal.
OK.
It’s also illegal to detain a person without cause. (As per our Constitution.)
The incoming pres-elect recommends rounding up “Mexicans” and throwing them out.
Sanctuary City status only says that we are not OK with police rounding up people who might look like “Mexicans” and holding them in jail until they can get someone to prove they are citizens or are here legally.
Time to put on our red, white and blue pants and be Americans.
When a police officer interacts with a person it should be restricted to the potential issue at hand. Unpaid Parking tickets and unpaid Tolls by mail arrears have often resulted in driving suspension sometimes without the driver even being aware. It has huge ripple effects that can cause disruption in ability to travel to work and conduct normal family functions. There was an uproar of people visiting the DSS building for business they were there to transact and in doing a background check some were arrested for infractions unrelated to their visit. Checking for immigration status during a local police encounter can put our community into chaos with a parent or two turned into immigration authorities for deportation. So many of our country contributors may fall into this category and we need to create a city, county and country that enables us all to succeed.
Take a good long look at San Francisco. Isolate only on the crime rates associated with and committed by illegal immigrants. This is not the 1800’s nor the early mid 1900’s. Wake up people.
So, one shooting incident with an illegal involved equals what? Give us some statistics – don’t play the Fox sound bite. Show us what we should be afraid of.
If you can.
One shooting incident with an illegal [alien] equals murder. How many of those are acceptable on general principles?
The point is to protect people who are here legally. That they may walk down the street and not be tossed in jail because thy might look like an immigrant. (Or might actually be an immigrant.) It’s not to protect illegal aliens.
Are you thinking that the immigrants in the 18 hundreds were never criminals? Does the OK Corral ring any bells? Many of our forefathers and foremothers were technically by today’s laws criminals. Many of our ancestors came here, even after they were immigration laws, illegally. But more than that, many people are consistently harassed about their immigration status even though their status is perfectly legal. Many people are falling out of a legal category through technicalities, and then being separated from their families, to end up in situations that they can’t afford to remedy. Have some compassion, and please develop a sense of History. And humility.
Yes definately
what part of ILLEGAL do you not understand?
What law requires local authorities to inquire about immigration status when they come into contact with people? I’m not aware of one. All this seems to be saying is that city police aren’t going to worry about immigration enforcement, which isn’t their job anyway.
Immigration violations are a FEDERAL issue, not a local law enforcement issue. We should not waste local taxpayer money to enforce laws that there should Federal agents to enforce. If the Feds want to enforce their immigration laws, then they should have enforcement agents stationed here. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Republican Congress and Senate have taken away money from the immigration service. I believe that they do this only to give tax breaks to their rich backers, while conning the rest of us into believing that these tax breaks benefit us.
Besides if a law is unjust, how else to see that it is repealed than to disobey it, until it is repealed?
The immigrants I have met are the most hard working people…..trying to improve their family’s
quality of life. They were so hoping that the immigration laws would be passed during the Obama administration…….but now with the president -elect they live in fear. This new administration
is generating so much Fear all around. Let Kingston be an example of Humanity & Kindness….YES to a Sanctuary City !
Illegal is illegal. Legal immigration is different.
Shockingly, you cannot operate a responsible government on Humanity & Kindness. Laws exist to preserve social order. A society with unenforced laws will inevitably, and necessarily, by definition, devolve into anarchy, thereby ruining it for everyone.
YES the council should pass this resolution!! The poll is not closed! Vote yes now.. If you have difficulty refresh the page and try again.
Not going to do business, shop, or eat in Kingston anymore if it goes sanctuary. It’s a danger and the consequences or not being considered.
Its simple !!! If you didnt take the proper steps to become an American like others folks that came here by following the rules then u should be deported ! If you dont have a ss# your not paying into the system that supports u and your family ! ITS SIMPLE ! If your not here legally get out of my country and come back a citizen ! Get a ss# and pay taxes just like the rest of us ! YOU PEOPLE BLOW MY MIND WITH YOUR LIBERAL NONSENSE ! GTFO OF MY COUNTRY ! COME BACK LEGALLY AND WE WILL WELCOME U WITH OPEN ARMS !!!!!! Its plain and simple ! If any of us broke a law in this country we would be prosecuted ! Tell me why this is different ! Its not PERIOD!!!!!@ ✌✌✌
Some factual inaccuracies here. Most undocumented folks pay taxes – far moreso than the wealthiest Americans, who have access to significant tax loopholes. This has been documented by the federal government. Also, the process of actually deporting undocumented people is not at all simple. It’s extremely complicated and a very, very expensive expenditure for taxpayers, probably more than the additional cost of undocumented folks going to schools, driving on roads, using libraries, etc. Remember that undocumented immigrants make up less than 5% of our total population and do not have access to food stamps, welfare, social security or other government entitlements (even though they pay into those systems) so their economic impact on the country is more of a gain than an average citizen. Also, this resolution would just codify the Kingston Police force’s current practice of not asking people for their immigration status and potentially jailing (another cost to society) legal immigrants and citizens who can’t produce their citizenship status. Local law enforcement are not trained on how be a proxy for the ICE, so this resolution would also protect our police force from the possibility of a civil rights violation. A very simple, smart, and common sense resolution that has become highly politicized due to the polarizing views on immigration.
Further factual inaccuracies here. Illegal aliens may pay a HIGHER PERCENTAGE of their income on taxes, but their total contribution the the U.S. Treasury in REAL DOLLARS pales in comparison to the total dollar figures paid by the ‘wealthiest’ Americans.
I visit Kingston Quite often and spend a lot of Money there, This will keep me from going to Kingston in the Future as I refuse to support Law Breaking and any supporters of law Breakers. As I am sure a lot of others will do the same thing!!!
I vote yes.
A wealthy American elitist wants nothing more than to keep us fighting against each other as a distraction while the nations resource wealth is extracted. Be assured those who supported him will be lucky to find a few crumbs trickling down. Together we stand, divided we fall, it’s that simple. Don’t buy in to the fear of the other- when was the last time a terrorist attacked you? Love your brothers and sisters.
Yes. Please try to remember what this country was based on -despite the shameful movement to drag slaves here. There are hard working people who contribute to your community. They came here for a better life and to work hard. The immigration system is broken and needs attention so it can more easily welcome those that need to and want to be here. Your immigrant neighbors pay taxes, grow and serve your food, clean your homes, get educated and contribute fully as lawyers and healthcare professionals. They live among you with respect and a desire to be safe. We need to embrace them and assure them that we understand why they want to be a part of our community. That we stand together with the best of intentions- always. Yes Kingston- be a proud Sanctuary City.
I worked very hard and spent a whole lot of money in order to live and work in the USA. As long as others folks do the same I’m fine with it.
Yes! and support a path to citizenship and fair wages for all workers. We can decide to focus our time and money on efforts to welcome people and lift them up, or we can focus our efforts in a negative way that divides families and is born in many cases of fear and lacks compassion. To me the choice is clear.
Look around, we already are a Sanctuary City……jobs first!!
I don’t think people who comment in here against it or voted NO know what “sanctuary city” even means
YES PEOPLE SHOULD BE WELCOMED TO OUR CITY AND SHOULD BE PROTECTED,AS LONG AS THE LAW IS NOT BROKEN.AMERICA IS A MELTING POT .LAND OF THE FREE AND FOR THE FREE.ABSOLUTELY A SAFE HAVEN FOR IMMIGRANTS ,NO MATTER RELIGION, OR ETHNIC BACKGROUND.
What part of “law” don’t you liberals understand? Illegal is illegal. Maybe you should look at what’s happening in Germany and France etc. NY needs change perhaps intelligence infusion clinics? We are already drowning in taxes and you want more to support people who hate our freedom and way of life? Please move to California. All sanctuary cities will be getting penalized under our new President. Your mayor is an Obama puppet and needs to be voted out. I have a feeling a lot of you rent.
This would be a great tool to create a ghetto and easily identify illegal immigrants when the political climate changes. All you “liberal minded” people should think things through.
And please stop mixing the illegal immigrants with immigrants who came here legally. Those who came here legally have nothing to fear.
Yes, Kingston should be a sanctuary city. Lord yes.
Absolutely not. It’s irresponsible to compromise the integrity of a small historical city. Why would we even consider this? The Kingston government needs to use the resources that they will be using for illegal immigrates and take care of their own citizens. Especially the elderly.
So now the Mayor wants to help criminals by giving them protection in Kingston. Sanctuary cities have been a failure. Read the news.
It makes me wonder why anyone would want to willingly bring trouble to the city that they are elected to serve and protect. Strange. What’s in it for the Mayor?
You think we should protect illegal immigrates? They are felons. You see they want the same benefits and rights you and I have without going through the legal process of immigration. They are living here because our weak liberal government does have the guts to deal with them Instead they use people like the Mayor of Kingston and the jerk we have as a governor to force them on us.
this is why democracies do not work…rule of law goes out the window and the majority can dictate to the minority regardless of right or wrong.
Aphrodite I already clean other peoples bathrooms. It’s an honest living so why do you make it a derogatory comment? It is help me raise my children I having my own business. Why would I want people coming in and working for less money and taking my job away? My grandparents were immigrants and waited and paid to come here. Flooding our city with illegals is only going to hurt our city. Just can’t wait till all the federal funding is cut off and you people start whining about it
This is an ILLEGAL action being taken to protect & support illegal persons who have no rights or business being here in the first place. There is a legal process for them to follow as millions have done before them. Why is that so hard to understand? If every one involved in any way in this entire problem just followed the law of the land, there would be no problem. No would would be suffering in anyway. A illegal person could not have any of his rights violated if he had followed the law in the first place as he would not even be here. Just obey the law, Mr. Mayor, that is part of what you were elected to do. Breaking the law should mean to all involved the end of your holding whatever office you now serve.
Luke DB. Yes we certainly know what Sanctuary city means. Do you really think we are that stupid? The issue is not primarily what the word sanctuary city means but what sanctuary city will do and create. How will it affect our citizens, our needy, families scraping together money to pay their taxes, our schools, our already poor families? Maybe if you were to think ahead into the future at what the repercussions would be you would understand how we are thinking. Creating a sanctuary city creates issues for the city. Perhaps those who are for a sanctuary city can each take in a family to their home? Pay for their food and education. I think that would be a lovely idea. Everybody seems to think it’s nice to help people. I like helping people myself. But creating a sanctuary city will flood the city with people in need and we will have to pay for it with taxes and hurt those already here that we support.
the mayor needs to be…recalled
Liberals excelling at stupid.
The law is a living thing and needs to evolve away from it’s racist white colonial roots. United we stand. No person is illegal. All people should be able to find a way to live, work and contribute to a system that is just and meaningful for all.
tell that to every other country in the world… guess your home is open too?..no locked doors? You break a law by entering a country without registering your entry ….breaking a country’s law automatically makes the act ‘illegal’..if we go by your logic…..lets just throw all laws out. while you’re at it…………….tell that also to the families who have lost loved ones at the hand of illegals who repeatedly have re-entered this country because of lax policies brought to us courtesy of the current admin
So you have miraculously solved the intractable problem of open borders. Good Work!
Thank you to the courageous elected officials who are standing up for the rights of the immigrants and refugees in our community! It may not be the most popular thing to do right now, but you are on the right side of history. Keep up the good work.
nothing courageous suggesting to break federal law, at citizens expense……also tell that to the 95 million Americans currently unemployed
Another American city being made into a dump. Absolutely NO!
We need to protect the people who already live and work in Kingston. Being a sanctuary city would do this. These are your neighbors.
HV1 – can you please change the language that you are using in this poll and in the linked article? You use the term “illegal immigrant” but it’s both demeaning and misleading. The resolution states that it relates to “reaffirming Kingston as a welcoming and inclusive city” and it resolves to continue Kingston’s “longstanding and legal practice of not inquiring into the immigration status of individuals being provided local government services.” Nowhere does it use the term “illegal immigrant.” Not inquiring about the immigration status of individuals protects residents regardless of their immigration status.
Further, please note that the Associated Press updated its style book in 2013 and no longer uses the term “illegal immigrant.” A person can’t be illegal, only a behavior. Using this language is biased rather than neutral. As a news organization, I would implore you to use neutral language. For more information on the AP’s decision, https://blog.ap.org/announcements/illegal-immigrant-no-more.
I appreciate my neighbors and friends who are immigrants and who contribute to the strength of my community in Kingston. I support the resolution for Kingston to remain a welcoming and inclusive city.
NO US city or town should any type of human illegal/illegal immigrant supporting sanctuary on our USofA soul
and this is exactly what Obama is doing
Obama is slowly giving human illegals our America
but our US President TRUMP will put a stop to all Obama’s hostile illegal human takeover of our USofA immediately!!!
Amen & Amen!!!
No way! Forget about Donald ‘s wall, but we are already over burdened, over taxed and under employed. Do gooders are well intentioned, but more often throughout history their efforts backfire .
I can’t help but wonder if this online poll is aligned with political affiliation.
So proud of city of Kingston for doing this! No bigotry allowed! Shut it down!
United we stand!
Total emotional foolishness! When it get’s to the point that citizens become second class and “ILLEGAL” immigrants become a priority common sense is no longer. The issue is not one a city or state can choose it’s a federal issue/law. Kingston politicians/citizens have no say on who can or cannot enter the country. It’s your and my taxes plus safety that is at issue here. Try on the US Constitution, the section that states “establish Justice, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..” This does not apply to anyone who walks through the door i.e. illegal immigrants. I guess those who are in favorite of allowing this are the one’s who will open their door for occupancy and pay the bill.
[…] January 1 poll on HudsonValleyOne.com (the news website of Ulster Publishing), only 51% appeared to favor this humane and commonsense […]