Town staff: Jackson not a sanctuary city
By Kevin Huelsmann, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
July 30, 2010
Earlier this month, Jackson officials received an e-mail from a man stating that the town’s alleged status as a sanctuary city made him cancel plans to host a family reunion in the valley.
“Our 21-member family would have spent over $25,000 in the Jackson Hole economy,” wrote Dennis Thompson of Carefree, Ariz., in an e-mail to several councilors. “However, due to your city’s sanctuary city policy, which is favorable to illegal immigrants, we have decided to boycott Jackson Hole in protest and move our family reunion to Missoula, Mont., and spend our hard earned money there.”
About a week later, town officials received a similar e-mail from a Wyoming resident.
“[I] believe we are a ‘nation of laws’ not a ‘nation of men,’ ” said Pine Bluffs resident Nola Cary in an e-mail. “If you took an oath to uphold our laws, please honor that oath.”
Those e-mails, town staff later found, were prompted by several websites that list Jackson as a sanctuary city, defined as a place that is lenient on illegal immigrants.
In response, Town Clerk Roxanne DeVries Robinson sent out several e-mails of her own: one to Thompson, one to Cary and another to the operator of Ohio Jobs and Justice PAC’s “Original List of Sanctuary Cities, USA.”
“I am extremely disappointed that you would choose to list the Town of Jackson, Wyo., on a web site stating that we are a sanctuary city without direct Town Council action or any sources,” Robinson said in an e-mail to Steve Salvi, who operates the website. “Please let me know how you arrived at the conclusion that the Town of Jackson was a ‘sanctuary city’ and your source for this information. Kindly remove us from your site immediately.”
Robinson said the town does not have immigration policies and follows federal guidelines.
“The town of Jackson and the Jackson Police Department simply follow the U.S. and Wyoming Supreme Courts in regards to what is legal and what is not,” Robinson said in an e-mail. “Those who are arrested for a crime and incarcerated, and then are determined to be here illegally, are given the telephone number to their consulate and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is notified. Typically ICE will put a detainer on the individual and remove that individual from the community within a few days of the detainer unless the crime they are charged with is serious enough to allow them to go through the criminal justice system first.”
In addressing Thompson and Cary, Robinson reiterated that the town follows all state and federal laws regarding illegal immigrants and has never endorsed any kind of sanctuary city policies.
She also asked that they “reconsider and include Jackson, Wyo., in any future vacation plans as we would love to have you visit out beautiful community.”
