Jackie Kruszewski of Style Weekly has written this very useful article, "Giving Sanctuary: What We Know About Richmond’s Role in the Immigration Debate," about where the city of Richmond stands right now in regards to immigration. You should read the article, but I've included some of the most important take-aways in my explanation below.
What is a sanctuary city, and why?
In the broadest sense, a "sanctuary city" is a municipality that has policies in place to avoid using local resources to prosecute undocumented immigrants for violation of federal immigration law, and to make public services available to people regardless of their status. This can mean different things: in some sanctuary cities, the police and sheriff's departments are instructed simply not to inquire about citizenship when they interact with the public, in others they're directed not to furnish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests for information or assistance on enforcing immigration laws, and in a minority of places, local law enforcement is directed not to surrender undocumented people for deportation.
Generally, municipalities implement sanctuary policies because they understand that the system for legal immigration to the U.S. is broken such that obtaining status as a permanent legal resident is just not possible for many people; undocumented immigrants are here, they're going to be here are long as a legal option is out of reach, and since they're here, it's on our local governments to treat them humanely. Terrorizing communities where undocumented people are suspected to live with ICE raids, detentions, and deportations isn't humane.
What did Trump do to threaten sanctuary cities?
On January 25th, Trump signed Executive Order 13768, titled "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States." The order's couched in the assertion that undocumented immigrants are dangerous criminals whose presence in the country threatens the fabric of society. (The order doesn't suggest a region of origin or race for this wave of criminals, but the subtext provided by Trump's entire campaign makes it pretty clear that they mean for us to think of Latinos and people from the Middle East here.)
What the order does is declare that: 1. sanctuary cities will have their federal funding cut off (and the Director of Homeland Security can decide which municipalities count as sanctuary cities), 2. deportations will be sped up, and 3. prioritizes the deportation of anyone convicted of, charged with, or suspected of a crime, or anyone an immigration officer judges to "pose a risk to public safety or national security." This appears to be broad enough to mean "anybody undocumented."
What is the situation of Richmond, and of Virginia as a whole?
Richmond is not a sanctuary city at the moment. Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham says that it is not the practice of RPD to ask about immigration status during routine policing, but this may not be reflected in the actions of officers on the ground. Mayor Stoney released a statement about inclusion and equal protection in the city last week (you can read it here), in which he outlined Richmond's existing policies and criticized the Trump administration's anti-immigrant rhetoric and two anti-sanctuary city bills going through the state legislature. It's a very solid statement.
There are two bills currently in the Virginia General Assembly which pertain to sanctuary cities. HB 2000, sponsored by Del. Charles Poindexter (R), would make sanctuary city policies illegal under state law. SB 1262, sponsored by Sen. Dick Black (R), would make sanctuary cities legally liable for any crimes committed against a person or property by an undocumented immigrant. Both bills are still alive as of this writing.
How do I help?
This section is not comprehensive.
ICE Out of RVA, a grassroots group, is working on (among another things) getting Stoney's inclusion statement parlayed into policy changes. If you want to help, they are who to talk to.
At Virginia Commonwealth University, PLUMAS (Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society) has been conducting Undocually trainings for people within the institution, and is promoting a petition to President Rao, urging him to support VCU's immigrant community by standing up to Trump (here's my post on the petition, which gives some additional context if you're not up on DACA). People unaffiliated with the university are encouraged to sign, too.
That's the situation as I understand it so far. Did I miss something? Comment or shoot me an email at activerva@gmail.com.
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