Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Kenney's sanctuary turkey

ON THE DAY before Thanksgiving, let's give thanks that a Philadelphia mayor's bout of responsible and sane thinking will be quickly corrected by Mayor-elect Jim Kenney. At least Mayor Nutter can plead temporary insanity as a defense for his actions in 2014 when he ordered that Philadelphia authorities would be barred from the city's compliance with federal requests to detain those who might be in our country illegally and otherwise would be released pending trial for some criminal offense.

Kenney: Dead-set on restarting policy Nutter stepped away from.
Kenney: Dead-set on restarting policy Nutter stepped away from.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez/Staff Photographer

ON THE DAY before Thanksgiving, let's give thanks that a Philadelphia mayor's bout of responsible and sane thinking will be quickly corrected by Mayor-elect Jim Kenney. At least Mayor Nutter can plead temporary insanity as a defense for his actions in 2014 when he ordered that Philadelphia authorities would be barred from the city's compliance with federal requests to detain those who might be in our country illegally and otherwise would be released pending trial for some criminal offense.

As the Inquirer recently reported, these requests, called "ICE holds," were put into play under the federal Secure Communities program to help federal agents apprehend potentially dangerous criminals. This policy makes a lot of sense to any sane, logical and reasonable person.

Apparently, our current mayor may have just been having a bad stretch in dealing with reality because Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison recently told the media that Nutter had been in talks with President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and they persuaded Nutter to greatly modify his program.

Gillison told the Inquirer: "I'm trying to put into writing what is common sense. If a person is suspected of being a terrorist, and they happen to be in our custody, are you telling me that we don't want to tell the feds?"

Gillison gave us a preview of the modification to Nutter's policy when he told illegal-immigrant advocate groups there would be local-federal cooperation if a suspect is accused of murder, rape, robbery, domestic violence, illegal possession of a firearm or involvement in terrorism.

This reversal tells me that Nutter is sane and thus probably not qualified to be mayor of Philadelphia. Thank God his term ends in January and new Mayor Jim Kenney will emerge to restore insanity.

Kenney, through a representative, has indicated that he would overturn Nutter's sane new order. How reassuring.

This tells me that Kenney will not listen to the mean, racist, right-wing pleadings from the Obama administration. Think about the fact that Kenney has gotten to the left of an administration that has advanced illegal immigration more than any in United States history. That's saying something.

This insanity is world-class. It ignores the debate raging in the country in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris. It ignores common sense. It says that Philadelphia will be a sanctuary city on steroids.

This delusional position from Kenney about cutting off Philadelphia from cooperation with the federal government came closer this past week when Kenney in a release affirmed his intention to accept Syrian refugees. He said, "I applaud Governor Wolf's decision to work with the federal government to properly screen and resettle Syrian refugees."

This prompted Joe DeFelice, executive director of the Philadelphia Republican Party, to respond in a statement that "the irony here is that while Kenney is willing to work with the federal government to screen refugees, he is unwilling to work with the federal government after illegal immigrants have been arrested in Philadelphia. If one of these refugees commits a crime in Philadelphia, will he work with the federal government to deport them or just release them to the general public?"

I'm pretty sure that in Kenney's mind, he would not release any of the refugees. Philadelphia will make its own rules and be the shining sanctuary city on the hill.

In fact, let me help Mayor Delusional out by suggesting that we start work right now on changing those "Welcome to Philadelphia" signs to incorporate language like "America's Sanctuary City!" Think of the much-needed boost it will give to the region's tourism industry.

Maybe the Rocky statue can be put to use by inscribing below it, "Give me your tired, your poor, your criminals yearning to evade the federal government." This type of criminal asylum would set us apart as the world's largest insane asylum.

So this day before Thanksgiving, let's all remember and give thanks that the reality-based world of Mayor Nutter will so soon end and the fun-filled days of Mayor Delusional will soon begin.

Teacher-turned-talk-show-host Dom Giordano is heard on the New Talk Radio 1210 WPHT Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon. Contact him at askdomg@aol.com.