Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Florea presses city on welcoming city resolution

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At the April 25 Leavenworth City Council meeting, Carl Florea, representing the local group NCW United, continued to press the council on adopting some sort of welcoming city ordinance.

“It’s been controversial and I know its created a lot of emotion, but let me just say, these people are part of our community,” Florea said. “This is about our local community. This is about what already makes us up. A lot of workers that keeps a business going are immigrant, and believe you me, a number of those aren’t documented.”

If the council had any doubt about the number of undocumented worker in town, Florea said he could have the council meet some of them, not a city hall, but somewhere else.

“I will offer that to any one of you who might doubt they are part of this community. This really should be just about supporting our community. I know it is controversial and I know we’re in a divided place in this nation,” Florea said. “We should acknowledge we are the victims of a broken immigration system. Everyone of us can agree to that. It is what it is. They are here and they are contributing.”

If the council does not like the term, sanctuary city, that’s fine, he said.

“Find a way to say we understand their importance, their contribution. They are a part of us.

Quite frankly, they are here because the jobs are here. We have jobs that need to be filled. We have not had, as a nation, a legal way to get them here to fill them,” Florea said. “They came without that. They are not the ones in fault. We should have had a system in place and then we wouldn’t be in this conundrum.”

The immigration issue needs to be solved, Florea said, and it has to include a pathway for citizenship for those that are here. That’s the only way it can happen, he said.

“The problem is somebody else has messed with us. It’s not about us messing with national politics. National politics has decided what is best for this community is to clean them out. That’s not going to work. It’s not going to solve anything,” Florea said.

Councilman Elmer Larsen said he did not want to debate.

“Until they start solving it at the national level, we are not engaged. We can’t do it from the council level. There’s a lot of people here upset there is an effort to create a sanctuary city,” Larsen said. “I think it is a divisive issue that does not need to be fought about at this level.”

Florea said that was fine.

“The thing that is the reality is that somebody else has determined that getting rid of them is the answer. Mass deportations is the answer. If suddenly all the undocumented were lifted out of this county, we’d be in whole heck of hurt economically,” Florea said. “The idea that you cannot get involved is just burying your head in the sand. We are involved. If you do nothing, you’re saying mass deportations will work. Get rid of them all. Clean them all out.”

Florea said he was not about breaking up families. He believed that sometimes a community needs to take a stand on what is right.

“These people are a part of our community and we should defend them. It’s a broken system, I agree, but it’s not going to get fixed by getting rid of them,” Florea said. “We should acknowledge that and give them the message we appreciate their efforts. We know they’ve contributed to our growth. Elmer, you’re smart. Find a way to do it without calling it sanctuary.”

Larsen said he didn’t believe it was real.

“I don’t want to get in a big debate. This idea of mass deportation is false news. I can’t envision anyone moving in that direction,” Larsen said. “What I can see is security at the border and some sort of amnesty program to address immigration, but you can’t just open the door to let anyone, bomb in the suitcase, walk in the door.”

This is probably not the correct venue to have this discussion, Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar said. Florea said if the council wanted more discussion, then invite him to a committee meeting.

“Let’s talk about what we can do to support these people who are here. There is a lot of fear out there. Maybe some of it is unfounded,” Florea said.

Councilwoman Carolyn Wilson asked if those folks are attempting to become legal? Do they know the path?

“That pathway, that is the problem. Most of them legally here now, weren’t legal when they came. That’s the reality. There is a process they had to go through. The reality is we’re depending on them. We should be able to find a way to say thank you and we don’t think getting rid of you is the answer,” Florea responded to Wilson.

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.

 

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