Rizzo Presses Nutter On Immigrant Reporting Policy

Councilman Frank Rizzo has chided Mayor Michael Nutter on his opposition to the extension of the agreement allowing US immigration and customs enforcement agencies access to the City’s Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System.

In a letter to the Mayor, Rizzo remarked, “You have stated that regarding undocumented aliens, ‘the only law they broke is coming into the United States because they want to get a job.’ The message this unfortunately sends is it is acceptable to break the rules.

“It is patently unfair to those residents who follow the rules and who, for various reasons, find themselves among the ranks of the unemployed. It is also unfair to those citizens of other nations who want to immigrate to our country, but await their opportunity to so in accord with our immigration laws. Illegal immigrants need to ‘get in line’.”

Rizzo “strongly” urged the Mayor and “the other members of the PARS steering committee” to support Federal access to those records.

   Send article as PDF