This past week, the Mayor of Providence Jorge Elorza (D) led a delegation of the United States Conference of Mayors to Washington DC to meet the new Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly to discuss the problem of illegal immigration in America’s cities. Although the forum was civil and productive, there remained a fissure if not a canyon of separation between the mayor’s position toward the undocumented and the administration’s stance on the matter.

Elorza and most urban mayors have an open arms attitude regarding those who reside here illegally. Whereas, President Donald Trump ran on a message of deporting illegal immigrants, building a southern border wall, dramatically increasing the vetting process of visa applicants, and rooting out potential terrorists and preventing them from accessing entrance into the US. Even though the administration’s attempted implementation of these prospective policies are wrought with insurmountable difficulties. The greatest of which is the bureaucratic resistance of city mayors. Nevertheless, the president and his Homeland Security chief are trying to change the paradigm toward enforcement of our immigration laws.

As a result, liberal elected officials are making political hay out of their emotional speeches in defense of the poor determined immigrant who lives in the shadows and merely craves for a better life for himself and his family.

This narrative paints a sympathetic picture of someone seeking the American dream in a noble evocative fashion. However, the story is not always necessarily true. There are many who come to our shores to attach an umbilical cord between their families and the taxpayer supported government. Others are here to participate in criminality. While others with perhaps the best of intentions have no skills and/or no education and therefore are inevitably destined to either be a burden to society or a desperate crook.

Yet, Mayor Elorza, along with many other Democrat politicians across our nation have depicted themselves as human shields protecting the unfortunate undocumented.

Elorza seemed initially impressed with Secretary Kelly despite their policy viewpoints. “He’s mission-oriented, results oriented”. The problem lies in the obvious fact that the Secretary’s mission differs from the mayor’s. Elorza voiced his protests about how local police departments would be further burdened with immigration enforcement. “A wide spread crackdown on undocumented immigrants is causing problems for city police departments.” The mayor continued to express his theme of the unfortunate illegal: “Fear of being deported makes crime victims and potential witnesses less likely to come forward.” The mayor neglected to mention the substantial number of undocumented aliens who are involved in crime rather than becoming victims of criminality.

Splitting hairs of legalese, Elorza questioned the legality of using local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law suggesting this practice might be unconstitutional. He went further. “We need guidance explaining what did they mean by sanctuary city?” And in an interview on MSNBC, Elorza said, “We need clarity on what sanctuary city means.” Furthermore, the mayor questioned the very term sanctuary city. “There is no legal definition, a set definition, for what it means. Give us some guidance so we know where we stand.”

Well Mr. Mayor, yes the federal government does not have a formal list of sanctuary cities, however the feds define local law enforcement in municipalities that promulgate the problem. The Congressional Research Service Report on illegal immigration states that the 300 jurisdictions it believes actively obstruct immigration enforcement as: “those who refuse to comply with some or all parts of federal immigration laws”. It seems that the former constitutional law professor at Roger Williams Law School Jorge Elorza may protest too much about clarity of the definition of a sanctuary city; in a word it is Providence!

In another interview previously given last year and reported on WPRI News, Elorza spoke of his ongoing theme of how he is the sentry of the downtrodden undocumented, “We’ve looked at all our policies and as I’ve mentioned a number of times, we’re not going to sacrifice any of our folks here in Providence. My job is to represent every single resident of the city of Providence and we will continue to do that.” I did not realize that having someone who is breaking the law be processed through the Immigration and Law Enforcement (ICE) system of review meant “sacrificing” them.

Contrary to our capital city’s mayor, the President of the United States Donald Trump is serious about enforcing existing laws which have lay fallow and unenforced for years. Additionally, Trump has threatened to strip sanctuary cities of federal funding. Considering the financial predicament of the capital, is it fair for Elorza to risk much needed federal funds in order curry favor with the illegal immigrant community?

The mayor has his priorities misaligned. According to Elorza, “My job to represent every single resident of the city of Providence and we will continue to do that”. Mr. Mayor should have changed “every single resident” to every legal resident.”

Conversely, the president has issued executive orders that seek to broadly expand justification for deportation. All estimated, 11 million illegal immigrants would be vulnerable to be deported. What is most striking about this expansion of policy is that even is the deportee has not been convicted of a felony he or she could still be removed. Under the current adjudication system, in Massachusetts, where Rhode Island immigration cases are heard, there is a 691-day backlog. Hopefully, the expansion of the criteria by Trump’s executive order will help speed the process by greater clarifying the reasons for immediate deportation.

Of course, the president most repeated issue on the campaign stump was how to stem the tide of illegal immigrants. Trump often cited the burden of social services, our public education system, and our correctional system.

In this regard, the president is correct. According the federal crime statistics, over 30 percent of our federal prisons are filled with illegal immigrants, most on drug related convictions. Also, our public education spends billions on illegal students and bilingual education. And, hundreds of anchor babies are born every day in the border state hospitals at taxpayer expense.

The president’s main answer is to build a Mexican-United States border wall, which may be untenable. Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security Ryan Zinke states just a few of the difficulties. “The Rio Grande, what side of the river are you going to put the wall? We’re not going to put it on our side and cede the river to Mexico. And we’re probably not going to put it in the middle of the river. The border is complicated as far as building a physical wall.” Estimated costs of the wall range from $14 billion to $21 billion depending on which federal estimate one believes.

Zinke also related the results of an internal Homeland Security report regarding increasing border protections other than building foreboding edifices. “Customs and border protection cost estimates are premature as there are many variables that are currently unknown”.

So where do these facts leave us in regard to illegal immigrants locally and nationally? Mayor Elorza must abandon his political posturing and preserve the flow of federal monies into Providence and therefore comply with the president’s legal initiatives. The mayor must understand that we want legal immigrants to follow our system of laws and strive to be naturalized. Oppositely, we do not want those who circumvent our system and use our society’s resources while they thwart the rules to continue to do so unchecked.

Mr. Trump may have the best of intentions in curtailing the illegal immigrants from access to our nation. However, the prospective border wall is so problematic and costly that it simply makes no sense. But, his executive orders expanding the latitude ICE agents and local law enforcement officials have in detaining the undocumented is a great step in the right direction.

Our unfortunate circumstances regarding 11 million illegal residents in our country must be addressed seriously. Politicians who have voiced compassionate diatribes against those officials who want to enforce the laws of the land have their allegiances misplaced. Their first priority is to enforce the laws, which their illegal constituents are ignoring.

Mayor Elorza may wish to seal the gates of the city to keep the undocumented in. However, Jorge may find the president’s federal travel agents have another idea, and they have the power of arrest!