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Jersey City Council President Rolando Lavarro announced on Jan. 26, 2017 that the city would add its first members to the new immigrant affairs commission. Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

(Jersey Journal file photo)

JERSEY CITY -- City Council President Rolando Lavarro announced today that the council next month will appoint the first three members of a commission tasked with advising the city on immigration issues.

The move comes the day after President Trump took actions aimed at implementing anti-illegal immigration policies, including one that would strip federal funding from "sanctuary cities," municipalities that pledge not to cooperate with federal immigration officials seeking to arrest and deport immigrants who have entered the nation illegally.

In a statement, Lavarro said, "Given President Trump's anti-immigrant policies and values, which have fanned the flames of anti-immigrant sentiment at an alarming scale, this commission will be valuable in evaluating the impact of certain national policies to the most diverse city in the nation and ensuring that Jersey City protects all its residents from hate and prejudice."

The inaugural members of the commission will be Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel of civil rights legal advocacy group LatinoJustice PRLDEF; Ahmed Yehya Shadeed, president of the Islamic Center of Jersey City; and Hamel Vyes, an immigration attorney.

The council created the immigrant affairs commission at Lavarro's urging in 2013, but no members were ever appointed. After Trump's election last year, Lavarro said the city would finally activate the body, which is expected to have nine members total.

Mayor Steve Fulop will present the council with the first three appointments at its Feb. 8 meeting for council approval.

Census figures show nearly 40 percent of Jersey City's population is foreign born. The Center for Migration Studies, a nonpartisan research center, estimates that roughly 22,300 undocumented immigrants live in Jersey City, nearly 10 percent of the total population.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said yesterday's action targeting sanctuary cities means that the American people will "no longer ... have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.