Cornell editorial calls ICE arrests 'federal overreach'
Cornell University's student newspaper recently decried the arrest of illegal immigrants by ICE agents as “federal overreach.”
In recent editorials responding to an ICE sweep in Western New York, the paper also praises Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick for defending the city's sanctuary status, though Myrick did concede that "we can't stop [ICE]."
The editorial board of the Cornell University student newspaper recently decried the arrest of illegal immigrants by U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) as “federal overreach.”
“ICE cannot come into our city, snatch our community members off the street in broad daylight and without informing local authorities, and then refuse to divulge any further information, including the identity of the man arrested,” The Cornell Sun declares, applauding Ithaca, New York Mayor Svante Myrick for his “vociferous defense of Ithaca’s sanctuary status.”
In that same public Facebook post, though, Myricks himself acknowledges that even if ICE agents are not welcome in Ithaca, “we can’t stop them.”
[RELATED: ‘Sanctuary campus’ leaders admit that colleges can’t ban ICE]
The editors then call on Ithaca’s federal representatives—Republican Rep. Tom Reed and Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand—to “immediately demand answers from ICE regarding their latest intrusion into New York State.”
The brief editorial concludes by stating that “if President Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and DHS Secretary Nielsen believe that their heavy-handed tactics will cow sanctuary cities like Ithaca into submission, they are sadly mistaken.”
Just a few days earlier, the Sun had published another editorial outlining ways for Ithaca to “maintain its resolve against the increasingly brazen ICE agency,” saying Cornell “can and should do more” to assist the city in enforcing its sanctuary status.
“Cornell Law should reinvigorate its Legal Aid clinic to provide services for more Ithaca residents,” the editorial suggests, “and the Cornell student body should continue to pressure leaders at all levels of government to speak out against the Trump administration’s heartless immigration policies.”
[RELATED: Chancellor faces no-confidence vote over sanctuary campus]
Both editorials were written in response to ICE arresting several illegal immigrants across Western New York, including three in Ithaca, in what the agency described as an operation “targeting at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and other immigration violators.”
ICE reported in a news release that half of those arrested during the sweep had prior criminal convictions, while four others were fugitives and another six had re-entered the country illegally after being deported.
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