Split between Governors and Mayors over Immigration

CITYLAB, an online publication of the Atlantic, has a fascinating piece about the turmoil over accepting Syrian refugees into the United States. The split is largely, although not entirely, along party lines.

Large cities in the U.S. in many cases lean Democrat and have Democratic mayors. The suburban and rural areas surrounding big cities and the majority of governorships lean Republican.

Eighteen large city mayors have signed a letter to President Obama asking for more Syrian refugees to be brought to their cities; the group is part of Cities United for Immigrant Action. Drawing on our powerful history of having new waves of immigrants serve as powerful forces in energizing the economy, these mayors are trying to turn around devastated parts of Detroit, Newark, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Baltimore. They see immigration as a big plus in that effort.

In the meantime numerous governors, most but not all Republican, have come out strongly against allowing Syrian refugees into their states. In some cases a governor and the mayors of the state’s largest cities are in direct opposition, as is the case in Illinois and Texas.

At the end of the day it’s up to the federal government to accept or reject refugees, not individual states. But look for this split to add to the turmoil.

President Obama is speaking out strongly against the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim fervor that is currently overwhelming some segments of our voting population. We have short memories in this country. We’re perhaps entering a time something like the nasty red-baiting period of the 1950’s, in this case directed at Muslims and led by Senator McCarthy’s ideological heir, Ted Cruz. Before Senator McCarthy was finally defanged and his House Un-American Activities Committee abolished [not until 1975], the movement caused untold damage to the lives and well-being of American citizens accused of being “red”. I’d hate to see such an ugly fervor take hold again.

We’ll see if the nasty rhetoric diminishes as the shock of Paris moves from numb horror to a more measured response.