Their View: They should be ashamed, law-breaking encouraged
City officials in a few municipalities around America - New York, Newark, N.J., and San Francisco, among them - that have their communities declared “sanctuary cities” for illegal aliens ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are encouraging lawbreaking and the flow of even more illegal aliens into the United States.
This may be popular with some groups, but not with the mass of the citizenry, who must live with the legal and economic effects of the influx of illegal aliens, and who really do think this should be a country where laws, federal and otherwise, are respected. State and local laws, by the way, are not supposed to contradict federal ones.
Sadly, Providence, R.I., City Councilman Migual Luna wants Providence to become such a city. Luna's proposed ordinances would bar city employees, including the police, from inquiring into the immigration status of people in the city, or reporting suspected illegals to federal immigration officers, unless the person has committed a felony offense.
Luna says his ordinances “will prohibit city officials or law enforcement from working with immigration (officials).” He says his main idea in encouraging people to ignore federal law is to avoid deterring people from using city services.
This is a staggeringly irresponsible proposal, and one grotesquely unfair to people who want to respect the law, including most especially those immigrants who came here legally. And these laws, of course, encourage more illegal immigration. Is that Luna's aim? In any event, businesses looking for ever-cheaper labor and certain politicians looking to increase the number of their loyal followers may well like the councilman's idea. We suspect, however, most citizens, including taxpayers, will not.
Meanwhile, you wonder whether cities whose officials are ordered to overlook violations of federal law should receive federal funds.
- The Providence Journal
Rate reductions
The Issue: Investigation of lowering company premium rates
Their View: To remain credible, bureau must give equal treatment
An investigation into whether political influence played a role in reductions of insurance premium rates for some companies has concluded without findings of improper conduct at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Still, the inspector general's report last week reinforced the disturbing findings of an internal audit last year, a review that found appeals for rate reductions routinely granted without clear standards or paperwork.
In short, the process offered almost unlimited leeway, an atmosphere that made any working definition of “improper” almost impossible.
Fortunately, the bureau already has started the process ... of tightening its standards for rate appeals. For the bureau's credibility, it is crucial to ensure scrupulously equal treatment to all requests for rate reductions, whether they come directly through companies or through a representative or senator.
- The Akron Beacon-Journal
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