Over two years ago, I wrote a couple of articles on an attempt by some people here in Owensboro, Kentucky to adopt a Fairness Ordinance. Should the city officials adopt such an ordinance, then Owensboro would have banned discrimination in regards to sexual orientation and gender identity, but at the cost of bringing more government intervention into the workplace and into people’s lives in general.
The individual who advocated for the city to adopt such an ordinance was Sylvia Coleman, Executive Director of the Owensboro Human Relations Commission, an entity created by the Owensboro City Commission with the task of investigating discrimination within the City of Owensboro in regards to employment, education, and housing. Despite the efforts by Coleman and others to push for the adoption of a Fairness Ordinance, city officials tabled the matter – hence, the fate of this proposed ordinance is uncertain.
Over a week ago, there was an Interfaith Rally here in Owensboro in response to the Trump Administration’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration, as well as the Travel Ban. Sylvia Coleman was among those who spoke. In fact, she went so far as to urge the locals to petition both the Owensboro City Commission and the Daviess County Fiscal Court (note: Owensboro is the county seat of Daviess County) to adopt sanctuary policies. Thus, she is wanting Owensboro and Daviess County to become sanctuaries for illegal immigrants, without any fear of inquiry on their citizenship status should they be arrested or even stopped by local law enforcement.
I was outraged upon hearing about what she did, so I emailed her to voice my opposition to such an idea. In my email, I pointed out three factors.
1. Any sanctuary policy adopted by the Owensboro City Commission or the Daviess County Fiscal Court is a violation of federal law, and could result in federal funding being withheld, not to mention possible prosecution.
2. Advocating for sanctuary policies is not part of her job description.
3. There have been various cases of illegal immigrants being arrested or stopped in sanctuary cities, and they were not deported due to such policies. The result was many of these illegal immigrants’ committing violent crimes, including murder and rape. I also mentioned that any sanctuary policies which lead to such scenarios are highly likely to result in a lawsuit against the city or cities in question. I went on to say that should a sanctuary policy be adopted by the Owensboro City Commission and/or the Daviess County Fiscal Court, and any violent crime is the result, then I would encourage the victim or the victim’s relatives to not only bring a lawsuit against the city or county, but a lawsuit against Sylvia Coleman and the Owensboro Human Relations Commission, as well as any individual who petitioned the city or county on adopting sanctuary policies.
I concluded my email by telling Sylvia Coleman that she cease and desist from advocating sanctuary policies for the City of Owensboro and Daviess County.
Hopefully, my efforts in preventing Owensboro and Daviess County from being sanctuaries for illegal immigrants will be successful.
photo credit: wstera2 Walk This Way via photopin (license)
