Categories: News, Schenectady County

As cities across the state and country weigh how to address new federal immigration orders, a small number of residents are publicly calling for Schenectady to become a sanctuary city, so far to no avail.

The City Council was set to discuss the subject during Tuesday night’s committee meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda after only two members expressed support for the conversation.

“My intention was to discuss the various things that we might be able to do,” City Council President Leesa Perazzo said. “Anything from something ceremonial all the way up to actually naming ourselves a sanctuary city.”

About 10 people have attended recent council meetings, urging officials to adopt sanctuary city status. However, the argument hasn’t gained traction with local leaders.

Fears over the Trump administration’s handling of immigrants and refugees have led to debate in recent weeks among residents and local leaders over whether to codify certain protections for at-risk citizens. Trump, meanwhile, has threatened to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities.

“Sanctuary city” doesn’t have a set definition, but it typically means local police refuse to enforce federal immigration laws. For example, law enforcement could decline to report an individual’s immigration status to federal authorities.

Albany, Rochester, Syracuse and Kingston are among the municipalities in New York state that have declared themselves sanctuary cities.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued guidance for cities in January that outlined ways municipalities could limit their participation in federal immigration enforcement, essentially acting as sanctuary cities.

Schneiderman’s guidelines, as well as resolutions adopted by the city of Albany, were included in documents Perazzo sent to other council members prior to Monday’s meeting. However, only Councilwoman Marion Porterfield supported discussing Schenectady’s sanctuary city status, Perazzo said.

There isn’t enough support on the City Council for making Schenectady a sanctuary city, Councilman John Polimeni said.

The city welcomes and needs immigrants and refugees, he said, but they should enter the country legally. He added that he has family and friends who have gone through the lengthy and expensive process to immigrate and obtain citizenship.

“For me it’s a very personal thing, but it’s got to be done in a proper process,” he said. “Otherwise a country without laws, a country without borders is no country.”

Councilman Vince Riggi said he thinks the topic is spurred by opposition to Trump’s administration, adding that he doesn’t believe it’s an issue the City Council should be weighing in on.

“The sanctuary city issue, it’s not really an issue here,” Mayor Gary McCarthy said. “We’re not being asked by ICE to go out and enforce detainers,” adding that residents would have to be involved in some other criminal activity for immigration status to come up.

As a result, he said, declaring Schenectady a sanctuary city wouldn’t really change the way it operates.

Still, the residents at the last two council meetings are hopeful to see city leaders take action.

Four people spoke on Feb. 13 in support of making Schenectady a sanctuary city, and six people stood at the back of the room during Tuesday night’s committee meeting holding signs expressing support for immigrants and for sanctuary city status.

Most of them voiced concerns about the Trump administration, pointing to an executive order that, until it was blocked by a federal court, banned refugees and immigrants from seven countries.

Michele Hackett was among the six people at Tuesday night’s meeting, and she cited statements from Schneiderman and Gov. Andrew Cuomo as examples of how she’d like to see local leaders protect undocumented immigrants.

“We would hope Schenectady and the mayor could stand in solidarity to do what is ethically right,” said Hackett, a Schenectady resident.

Even if McCarthy believes it’s not an issue in Schenectady, said Vicki Michela, a Niskayuna resident at Tuesday’s meeting, that could change in the future and she’d like to see a policy put in place.

The half-dozen people at the committee meeting said they plan to encourage others to join them at future meetings and to contact local officials in support of the sanctuary city movement.

“Maybe if we hear from our constituents, people will change their mind,” Perazzo said.