To the editor:
At the July 20 council meeting, Councilman Seth Kurs addressed
recent press about the labeling of Hightstown Borough as a sanctuary
city and noted that “the police department is bound by Attorney Gener´
al Law Enforcement Directive 2007-3, which mandates that law en´
forcement must notify federal agents of immigration status.“
By this very definition we are not a sanctuary city.
He goes on to say “there are misconceptions about resolution
2005-66.“ I would agree. Go to any website about sanctuary cities and
under New Jersey, Hightstown is on the list. Clearly we’re not a sanc´
tuary city but the perception is that we are.
The quick resolve of this “misconception“ is the passage of a reso´
lution that clearly states our support of the rule of law specifically with
regard to immigration status. If this “misconception“ were to continue
it will undoubtedly incorrectly mislabel us as it has.
If Mr. Kurs thinks a resolution is unnecessary as he and Mayor
Lawrence Quattrone suggests then I would point out the numerous
websites that label Hightstown as a sanctuary city and encourage them
to adopt the resolution by council candidate Lynne Woods that would
no doubt clear up any misconceptions and remove us from those web´
sites. The directive is clear and as Mr. Kurs stated we follow it
therefore no one should be offended by its clarification through resolu´
tion.
Douglas Mair
Council Candidate
Hightstown
