Dean Johnson Comments on ‘Sanctuary Cities' for Philly.com
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented on the controversy over "sanctuary cities" for Philly.com, the web portal of the Philadelphia Media Network, which also publishes the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.
Although sanctuary cities have become a hot topic in the Republic presidential primaries, the term means different things in different cities, Dean Johnson explained. In some cases, it means that local police are barred from questioning people solely to determine immigration status, while in others it may mean that city authorities may not comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests to hold individuals beyond their release on local charges. Politicians who campaign against sanctuary cities rarely define the policies they are opposing or explain how such policies contribute to crime, he said.
"Sometimes the rhetoric used by some of the politicians doesn't really match the reality of what's happening," he said.
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.