Township Resident Renews Request For ‘Sanctuary City’ Status For Franklin

Township resident Manijeh Saba asked the Township Council to consider declaring Franklin a “sanctuary city.”

The Township Council is “moving at the right speed” to answer calls for Franklin to join the list of American towns that will not enforce national immigration laws, Mayor Phil Kramer said March 15.

Kramer was responding to Emerson Road resident Manijeh Saba, who asked the Township Council to declare Franklin a “sanctuary city.” Sanctuary cities  declare themselves safe for undocumented immigrants, and use no municipal funds to enforce immigration laws, nor do they aid in raids conducted by the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Saba and others have asked the council to take the action in prior meetings.

“I really think we need to do this,” she said at the March 15 meeting. “I know we have a lot of people who are undocumented in this town. many children are scared that they will come home and their parents won’t be there.”

“We live in dark times,” she said.

Kramer has said that while he supports the notion, he’s hesitant to push the designation because of possible loss of federal grant money, such as for Community Development Block Grants.

But at the March 15 meeting, Kramer said that the council could be voting on something soon.

Township Councilwoman Roz Sherman (D-Ward 2), said she agreed with Saba, and that the council should move quickly on the issue.

“Councilwoman Sherman and I agree in our hearts about what we should do about the sanctuary city situation,” Kramer said. “But I think we are moving at the right speed.”

“This is something that you have to be very careful about,” he said. “You can hurt people if you do it the wrong way.”

“I very much feel that we will be doing something, it will be done in the right way, soon,” he said.

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