The mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D), deliberately wants the city compete to become the nation’s largest sanctuary city.
Baltimore’s unemployment rate is at 10 percent. For blacks in Baltimore, the unemployment rate is over 20 percent. People are fleeing Maryland — and its major cities like Baltimore — to states like Virginia and North Carolina that have better conditions for economic growth. But none of that seems to matter to Rawlings-Blake, who thinks opening up Baltimore to illegal immigrants (her goal is to attract at least 10,000 immigrants to Baltimore) will solve — and will not exacerbate — the city’s economic woes and counteract population decline.
According to The Washington Post, Rawlings-Blake (D) signed an order in March prohibiting police and social agencies from asking anyone about their immigration status and asked federal immigration authorities to tell anyone they arrest that they are not agents of the city. And this is a part of a broader strategy to attract at least 10,000 immigrants to the city, regardless of their legal status.
As the Post notes, The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that Maryland had the nation’s 10th-largest population of illegal immigrants. The Census does not identify illegal immigrants, so it is not known how many of Maryland’s immigrant population is illegal. And Baltimore wants the lion’s share of the immigrant population — legal and illegal.
Del. Patrick L. McDonough (R-Baltimore County) said he is working with the conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, to determine whether the Baltimore mayor is aiding and abetting people in breaking the law. McDonough also said the mayor’s order creates a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants who will compete with current residents for jobs.
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