With the House of Representatives keen to send a message of official disapproval to President Obama over his decision to enact immigration reform through use of his executive authority, despite their lack of ability to stop him, some 20 Democrat mayors met in New York City yesterday to deliver a very different message to the commander-in-chief.
The mayors in question want to help Obama to implement his immigration reform plan. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, hosted the meeting in conjunction with non-profit organizations that provide services to immigrants. The aim of the meeting was to spearhead the attempt to convince up to four million undocumented immigrants to step forward and put in an application to receive deferred action.
“We are ready – and together we’re rolling up our sleeves to turn this policy into a better reality for millions of hardworking people in the communities we serve,” a statement issued by the mayors claims. “These mayors support the president because they know the economic benefit to their cities,” says the spokeswoman of the mayors’ coalition Cities United for Immigration Action, Laura Burton Capps. “They know this will help keep families together and enable immigrants to trust law enforcement and government.”
Capps says that one of the reasons behind the meeting was for mayors from different cities to get together and share practices, including coordinating and collaborating city practices with non-profit organizations that want to help.