The Radical Left Is Working To Make Winston-Salem “Sanctuary City”

Winston-Salem, North Carolina appears to be the latest city the radical left has in their crosshairs, with a group working to declare it a “sanctuary city” to protect illegal aliens who are breaking federal law.

At the city’s Monday city council meeting, several individuals stood up and spoke out in favor of the “sanctuary city push.” They say they will be gathering signatures in favor of the measure over the next couple of weeks to present to the council in January.

Apparently, those who make up the group do not feel as though local law enforcement should enforce federal law. These individuals seem to believe we should just pick and choose what laws we follow and enforce based on our own political agenda.

“It is not the job of local people to enforce federal rules,” said Alex Anderson, one of the groups members who spoke Monday night. He also said having sanctuary status would “encourage residents to take advantage of city services.”

“Encourage residents to take advantage of city services” is also code for encouraging illegal aliens who are not paying taxes to use services provided by hardworking, law abiding citizens’ tax dollars.

Fortunately, back in 2015, the North Carolina legislature passed legislation that says a city cannot direct it’s law enforcement officers to not gather information about someone’s citizenship or immigration status.

The legislation specifically forbids the adoption of “sanctuary ordinances.”

In response to the legislature 2015 legislation, Winston-Salem city manager Lee Garrity said, “We are not asking people what their immigration status is — that is not our job. But we fully cooperate with the feds.”

Council Member D.D. Adams responded to the request by saying that while the council gets a lot of requests, it has made it clear “that we are not a sanctuary city.”

“Our police will continue to do their job, whatever it may be,” Adams said. “Are we coming out arbitrarily looking for (undocumented) people? No, but if they break the laws of Winston-Salem, the Winston-Salem police will do their job.”

Another council member, James Taylor, who heads the city’ council’s public safety committee, said he’d look into the issue if asked, but made clear that the state law does not allow sanctuary cities and Winston-Salem will comply with that.

“Right now, state government does not like it, and we don’t want to upset them,” Taylor said.