Mayor Kenney Joins Mayors Across the Country to Promote ‘Day of Action’ in Support of Immigrants and Immigration Reform
PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Jim Kenney today joined with mayors across the country to demonstrate his support for immigrants and immigration reform.
In cities large and small, mayors are launching their Cities’ Day of Immigration Action, with the goal of bringing together faith leaders, residents, stakeholders and community based organizations for a variety of events that support immigrants, share important information about rights and available resources and underscores their value to both the national and local economies.
In their activities, mayors are stressing the vital contributions that immigrants make to their cities and the nation. Mayors are also urging Congress and the Administration to focus on common sense reforms that will fix the nation’s broken immigration system in an efficient, effective and compassionate way.
“Philadelphia is proud to be a welcoming city to our immigrants and strives to be a beacon to all looking to pursue their personal American Dream,” said Mayor Kenney. “Yet, the need has never been greater for thoughtful and intentional immigration policies from the federal level that support the welcoming spirit in our city, and throughout our nation. Now is the time for immigration policy and reform that supports families and strengthens the diversity of our communities.”
Here in Philadelphia we are issuing a city proclamation and commemorating the day via social media. Text of the resolution is below.
At the Conference’s Annual Winter Meeting in Washington in January, mayors adopted a resolution calling for enactment of bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform, the continuation of programs that protect the temporary status of Dreamers, and recognizes the social, economic and cultural contributions of immigrant communities nationwide.
Tom Cochran, CEO & Executive Director of The Conference said at that time, “This resolution is official policy of the organization, and as Executive Director, I intend to put the full force of the nation’s mayors behind it.”
Mayors are amplifying their message by using #MayorsStand4All across their social media platforms on March 21 and beyond.
The City of Philadelphia has provided action guides for concerned citizens interested in helping.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.
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City of Philadelphia Proclamation:
Philadelphia is a historic City founded on the principles of tolerance, acceptance, and welcome. Our diverse City has flourished with the contributions made by wave after wave of immigrants who traveled from points across the globe near and far to make Philadelphia their home of choice. These valued immigrant populations have contributed to the social intelligence, cultural richness, and economic well-being of our communities.
Philadelphia, the United States’ first World Heritage City, is proud to flourish as a city that has been enriched by its immigrant populations. We thrive through the productivity and innovation of our immigrant communities. Throughout the year, the City of Philadelphia proudly salutes our diverse international communities with ceremonial flag-raisings at City Hall that are created to acknowledge our immigrant populations and their respective countries of origin and descent.
Mayors in cities big and small, including Philadelphia, foster welcoming and secure cities for all their residents, regardless of who they are or where they come from. America’s mayors have called on the federal government to enact comprehensive immigration reform and enforce the nation’s immigration laws in a humane manner that does not disrupt the lives of city residents, and, in the absence of federal immigration reform, mayors and their cities seek strategies to protect and secure all their residents while ensuring that local law enforcement is focused on community policing.
The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is organizing a National Immigration Day of Action on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Chair of the USCM Latino Alliance, Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, Co-chairs of the USCM Immigration Reform Task Force, and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Chair of the USCM Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force.
THEREFORE…
I, James F. Kenney, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, March 21, 2017 to be
CITIES’ IMMIGRATION DAY OF ACTION
in Philadelphia, and take great pride in joining cities across America in declaring our solidarity with the immigrant community and asserting our commitment to the shared values of diversity, inclusiveness, and equality on which our City and our nation were founded.
James F. Kenney
Mayor
Given under my hand and the seal of the City of Philadelphia on this twenty-first day of March, two thousand and seventeen