Union City achieves sanctuary city status

UNION CITY — Union City, New Jersey has become the second municipality in Hudson County to designate itself a sanctuary city in the wake of an executive order by Donald Trump banning refugees from seven majority Muslim countries and pressuring municipalities to report undocumented immigrants.
Dozens of cities across the country have designated themselves “sanctuary cities” meaning that unless a serious crime has been committed, the mayor will not direct local police to help federal immigration officials look for undocumented immigrants.
In the past, Stack has expressed fear of local families being torn apart.
The Union City Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution establishing the city as a sanctuary at its Feb. 7 meeting. A week earlier, the mayor of Jersey City signed an order to become the first on Friday, Feb. 3.
“We thank the undocumented,” Mayor Brian Stack said during the meeting. “If it wasn’t for the undocumented [residents] reporting crimes, whether they’re the victim of a crime or they ‘see something, say something,’ our crime would be much higher in the city.”
“For a city with so many different religious backgrounds, so many ethnic backgrounds, everyone gets along so well,” he added. “We’re very proud of the immigrant population. [If] the president wants to look at a city and how well it gets along and how well people are functioning together, he should look no further than Union City.”
The local area has one of the highest Cuban populations in the country, and many other Latino residents.