PHILADELPHIA – Mayor Jim Kenney issued the following statement on SB10, which is expected to be voted on today by the Pennsylvania State Senate. The bill would attempt to withhold state grants to municipalities deemed “sanctuary cities” or “sanctuary counties.”

“I urge my colleagues in the statehouse who may disagree with Philadelphia’s sanctuary policy to recognize that policy disagreements should not be settled by defunding entire municipalities. It is an extreme reaction to a policy that hundreds of localities, including 19 in Pennsylvania, have been forced to adopt as a result of our broken national immigration system. In Philadelphia, it has enabled our law enforcement to drive down crime to a 40 year low, by providing immigrants who come forward to report crimes or act as witnesses sanctuary.

“I also urge Pennsylvanians who have been unsettled by what they’ve seen in recent days to call the Governor and state legislators. Tell them that you don’t want the White House policies that have sent our nation into chaos and threatened the very principles upon which our nation was built codified into Commonwealth law.”