The attempt to fill in the funding gaps ripped wider by Trump's order against sanctuary cities might be dubious. Do it anyway. Watch video
The Senate postponed a vote Monday on a bill that would require our government to financially protect New Jersey's sanctuary cities if they face federal penalties from President Trump's executive order against undocumented immigrants.
Yes, the bill (S-3007) is quixotic. Nobody knows what form the federal policy will take, how much pain it will cause, and Gov. Christie already said it's DOA the moment it reaches his desk because it's "outrageous" and "political pandering."
Actually, it is neither. It's not outrageous to protect urban dwellers because our federal government has an indefinite sense of right and wrong; it's not pandering when you're defending the rights of people who cannot vote.
But as long as we have a Legislature who cares about our cities, it should uphold our legacy of inclusion and respect for civil rights, while withstanding attempts to divide the citizenry.
Top cops to Trump: Sanctuary cities make us safer | Moran
So we hope Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) continues to pitch the bill, because it's never pointless to mark who stood on the warped side of history. Christie would turn his back on Newark if HUD money stopped coming in for lead remediation. Christie would let Camden reap the damage if grants to address crime and health were stripped.
"You have to enforce the law that's there," the governor shrugged.
Many state Attorneys General and the ACLU say he's wrong, that Trump has no such constitutional authority to cut off such funds. And police officials in Newark and Jersey City remind us that sanctuary cities make us safer, period.
They have chosen to stand up to a nativist demagogue. Our Legislature should follow suit.
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