To: The Mayor & Council Member
Make Desert Hot Springs a Sanctuary for Immigrants!
Dear mayor Scott Mates,
We the undersigned demand that this fine desert city be a safe haven from hate and continue honoring and celebrating immigrant and refugees resilience and defiance. We the undersigned ask that you take these small steps, to be sure, in the face of a very frightening wave of threats to roll back the civil rights gains made in recent decades. But we will stand up and take these steps; we will do our best to protect our community, and we will gather resources to enable all its members, regardless of citizenship status, to continue to have opportunities to thrive here.
Why is this important?
Across the country, many are calling for their universities to become sanctuary campuses. The model is the “sanctuary city,” like Austin, New York City, Chicago and dozens of other municipalities, which have declared their intention not to cooperate with federal officials seeking to deport residents simply because they lack appropriate immigration documentation.
At this moment, when there is a rising national rhetoric of intolerance and acts of hate that threaten people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ individuals, Jews, women, and immigrants, among others, we strongly affirm our protection of these groups, and we affirm our intention to support all students in their quest to pursue their education without government interference.
