Anson Stevens-Bollen
B ob, I know you follow social issues closely. I heard that Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales was on Fox News, defending sanctimonious cities. What's up with that?
No, not sanctimonious. You're thinking of so-called "sanctuary cities." Santa Fe is one of them, and our mayor was in the national spotlight, being interviewed by Fox News' Megyn Kelly. She introduced him as "the mayor of Santa Fe, California."
She did not.
Yes, she did. She had a good excuse, though. She said, "It's been that kind of a day." Journalists are allowed to use that as a defense when we really mean we could use a drink.
So what about these sanctuary cities?
They are self-proclaimed safe havens where local police refuse to honor most requests by the federal government to detain immigrants for possible deportation.
Are there other sanctuary cities I might be familiar with?
Have you heard of New York, Los Angeles or Washington, DC? Some politicians portray sanctuary cities as lawless hideouts, beyond the reach of justice. They are suddenly in the news because a certain president-elect has threatened to withhold federal funding from them.
Can he do that?
It's not clear. To me, it's sort of like Tony Soprano coming into your business with his thugs, and saying, "This is a nice candy store you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it." That's called extortion.
So you think an illegal immigrant should just be able to rob an Allsup's with a bazooka and not get arrested?
No. If a person commits a serious crime, the question of whether he is here legally becomes very relevant. But if he's stopped because he changed lanes without signaling, it isn't. How would you like to constantly have to prove you belong here?
What was the reaction to the mayor's position?
Many of the comments on his Facebook page were horrific. One person said, "They should deport this guy to MEXICO for being UGLY and Stupid."
That bonehead thinks our mayor, who was born in Santa Fe and is the son of a former mayor, should be deported to Mexico. And don't even get me started on why this idiot thinks the word stupid needs to be capitalized.
What's the worst comment you saw about the mayor's defense of sanctuary cities?
It's pretty fricking scary. Can you handle it?
Sure. I've been to the Rio Grande Gorge, and I've even eaten at random food trucks.
One commenter said, "Trump will punish you and Santa Fe for this, thanks a lot for raising our profile for retaliation."
So there's someone so afraid of the vindictiveness of a man who isn't even president yet, he thinks we should hide in the dark and do nothing to draw attention to ourselves.
Yikes. Now you're really scarin' me, Bob.
I'm glad. As Megyn says, it's been that kind of a day.
Robert Basler’s humor column runs twice monthly in SFR. Email the author: bluecorn@sfreporter.com
