Senior Alon Goldfinger and junior Joshua Sodicoff asked council to consider adopting a sanctuary city policy at Monday’s township council meeting. Mayor Chuck Cahn said the township is not considering becoming a sanctuary city.
One of the things Cherry Hill High School East senior Alon Goldfinger and junior Joshua Sodicoff love most about Cherry Hill is its diversity.
The pair feels the township’s cultural, racial and religious diversity is unmatched in many surrounding communities.
However, the pair also feels there are concerns revolving around the current political climate. Goldfinger and Sodicoff said some local immigrants are afraid of being deported, especially after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 25 to strictly enforce federal immigration laws.
To combat this, the pair asked Cherry Hill Township Council to consider passing a sanctuary city policy.
“There are other small towns in New Jersey that have legally put in sanctuary city policies,” Sodicoff said. “We know it’s doable.”
The Ohio Jobs and Justice PAC website defines sanctuary policies as when a state, county or city does not cooperate with federal government policies on illegal immigrants. Policies can vary greatly from city to city. OJJPAC also lists nine New Jersey municipalities and two counties as having sanctuary policies.
Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order cites sanctuary policies as illegal, saying, “Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States willfully violate federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States. These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our republic.”
According to the Pew Research Center, New Jersey had 500,000 illegal immigrants taking up residence in the state as of 2014. Only California, Texas, Florida and New York had more illegal immigrants.
Goldfinger and Sodicoff asked the township to simply pass a policy asking Cherry Hill police officers not to inquire about an immigrant’s status during traffic stops and other incidents. They said immigrants would still be held to the same laws as regular citizens.
“People think that illegal immigrants under the system are immune to the law when really, if they break the laws, they face the same consequences as other residents in the town,” Sodicoff said.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Chuck Cahn said the township is not considering adopting a sanctuary city policy.
“There has been no discussion, no discussion … of Cherry Hill becoming anything like a sanctuary city,” Cahn said. “We have had no conversations amongst us as council members at all.”
Cahn emphasized the township is a very diverse community and said the township is committed to protecting all of its residents.
In other news:
• Council approved the Baker Lanes redevelopment plan on first reading. The redevelopment plan, if approved, will allow for Advanced Recovery Systems, a rehabilitation treatment company specializing in treating substance abuse issues and mental health disorders, to move to the site of the old bowling alley.
Councilwoman Carolyn Jacobs, who also serves on the planning board, spoke positively of the plan, saying it conforms to the township’s master plan and fills a need in the community.
The second reading and public hearing of the redevelopment plan will take place at the next council meeting on Feb. 27.
• The township is hoping to receive a grant from PSE&G’s 2017 Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program. Council approved a resolution to have the township apply for grants.
Township director of communications Bridget Palmer said any grant money the township receives will go toward initiatives outlined in the township’s Roadmap to the Future. The township could receive up to $20,000 of grant money from the program.
