by Emily Schettler
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has been under fire since the recent YouTube Republican Presidential Candidate Debate.
The first question of the night was directed at Giuliani, accusing him of running New York City as a “sanctuary city.” Ever since that night, Giuliani has been trying to shake the idea that he supports illegal immigration.
The debate question was posed by Ernie Nardy, a resident of Brooklyn, New York:
“Under your administration as well as others, New York City was operated as a sanctuary city, aiding and abetting illegal aliens. I would like to know, if you become president of the United States, will you continue to aid and abet the flight of illegal aliens into this country?”Giuliani said that New York City was not a sanctuary city. Is he right?
The heart of Giuliani's debate reply was that there were three narrow exceptions where he (and the city) gave illegal immigrants a break:
“New York City allowed the children of illegal immigrants to go to school. If we didn’t allow the children of illegal immigrants to go to school, we would have had 70,000 children on the streets at a time in which New York City was going through a massive crime wave, averaging 2000 murders a year, 10,000 felonies a week…Emergency care in the hospital and being able to report crimes. If we didn’t allow illegals to report crimes, a lot of criminals would have gone free because they’re the ones who had the information.”Giuliani now defends his record, claiming that “we reported thousands and thousands of names of illegal immigrants who committed crimes to the immigration service.”
So, what constitutes a sanctuary city? Did aiding undocumented immigrants to enroll in school and receive health care establish New York City as a safe haven for those who are here illegally?
A Congressional Research Service Report from August 2006 defined a sanctuary city as a place that has “utilized various mechanisms to ensure that unauthorized aliens who may present in their jurisdiction illegally are not turned in to federal authorities.” New York was one of 31 cities listed in the report.
A 2003 article from the New York Times reported that Michael Bloomberg changed the city’s longstanding immigration policy. That policy, which was in place when Giuliani was in office, prohibited city agencies from reporting a person’s immigration status to federal authorities, an approach that was meant to protect undocumented but otherwise law-abiding immigrants who need police aid, medical treatment, or other services.
In 1996 Congress put into place the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which made it illegal for states to take action to prevent reporting illegal immigrants to federal authorities. The policies in place in New York City while Giuliani was mayor did just that. By refusing to take any information, city employees could not determine if those they were working with were here legally.
While Mayor of New York City, Giuliani clearly stated that he welcomed even illegal immigrants, saying: "If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city."
It is understandable that Giuliani would want to maintain good relations with immigrants in his city. According to a New York Times article, immigrants account for 37 percent of the city's population, and 14 percent of families have at least one undocumented person. Ruining relations with a group that large could certainly end anyone’s political career.
However, sanctuary cities have created several problems for cities like New York, and the nation as a whole. According to the American Medical Association, illegal immigrants dry up billions of tax dollars in medical treatments, including child birth and emergency room trips.
As mayor, Giuliani opposed welfare reform, because it would require government employees to document the immigration status of those who applied for aid.
Lesson: When Giuliani was Mayor of New York, his constituency was made up of many immigrants and people close to them. Now that he’s running nationally, Giuliani’s immigration position has "morphed" to fit with conservative Republicans, who are a large share of primary voters.
