Hi there,

Can you donate $10 per month to support Democracy Now!’s independent journalism all year long? Since our very first broadcast in 1996, we’ve refused to take government or corporate funding, because nothing is more important to us than our editorial independence—especially in this unprecedented election year. When Democracy Now! covers war and peace or the climate crisis, we’re not brought to you by the weapons manufacturers or the oil, gas, coal or nuclear companies. Our journalism is powered by YOU. But that means we can’t do our work without your support. Right now, a generous donor will DOUBLE your gift, which means your $10 donation this month will be worth $20 to Democracy Now! Please do your part right now. We’re all in this together. Thank you so much.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Vermont Lawmaker: Residents of Sanctuary Cities Reject Trump’s “Dragnet Approach” on Immigration

Listen
Media Options
Listen

As we broadcast from Burlington, Vermont, which is a sanctuary city, Vermont Rep. Peter Welch says there has been enormous citizen support toward undocumented workers. “You’re just seeing people across this country say, 'Wait a minute. That's not the America I know,’” Welch notes. He also discusses the need for local control over whether police departments enforce immigration laws, and says, “It is appropriate for law enforcement to have discretion.”

Related Story

StoryMar 31, 2017Is ICE Targeting Undocumented Activists for Arrest? Organizers Speak Out After 11 Days in Jail
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressmember Peter Welch, we’re going to leave it there, but I want to ask you one question that’s going on not only in Vermont but around the country, and that is the issue of sanctuary cities. Here in Vermont, we’re in Burlington, Burlington becoming a sanctuary city, Montpelier, the capital. Talk about what this means and the resistance at the state and local levels to the Trump administration’s immigration policies and cooperating with ICE arrests.

REP. PETER WELCH: Well, I think it’s two things. First of all, I think there is enormous citizen reaction and rejection of the president’s just fierce hostility towards immigration and towards undocumented workers and good citizens and good people in this country. So him building the wall, vilifying Hispanics—you’re just seeing people across this country say, “Wait a minute. That’s not the America I know.”

Secondly, there is a—this is a local control issue, in many respects. Is the local police department in your city and mine essentially just an arm of ICE? Or has it got primary responsibility to protect and enforce the laws in that community and make that community a safer place? So, some of this is pushback by local communities who don’t think that their police forces should be pushed around by the political agenda of President Trump. And you’re seeing a combination of political leaders saying, “Hey, we want to have our police forces protecting our people and enforcing our laws.” And you’re seeing citizens rejecting the dragnet approach that President Trump is taking towards immigration.

You know, there is a lot of discretion that law enforcement agencies have. And it’s appropriate in law enforcement to have discretion. You know, if you’re going three miles over the speed limit, most police officers won’t give you a ticket, even though, quote, “legally” they could. And that discretion with President Obama was restrained. With President [Trump], it’s really aggressive. So that’s, I think, what you’re seeing with the sanctuary city movement.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Peter Welch, thanks so much for being with us, the sole U.S. congressman from Vermont, chief deputy whip of the House Democratic Caucus, on the eve of the hundredth day of the Trump administration.

This is Democracy Now!. When we come back, we’ll turn to his fellow Vermonter, who also is in Washington. That is Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, who is there along with thousands of other people as they stream into Washington for the People’s Climate March on Saturday. Democracy Now! will be covering it live. Stay with us.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Next story from this daily show

“Weekends Are for Fighting Tyranny”: 350.org’s Bill McKibben on People’s Climate March

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top