Atlanta mayor joins effort welcoming unaccompanied immigrant children
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has joined 12 other city and county leaders from across the country in signing a letter welcoming the unaccompanied immigrant children and teens pouring over the southwest border.
“As leaders of the nation’s cities and counties, we remind the American public that the moral compass of our nation resides in our local communities,” says the letter, which was released Wednesday by Welcoming America, a nonprofit group that advocates welcoming immigrants.
“We call on our residents and leaders across the country to respond with compassion and concern for the welfare of all children, and to join us in doing all we can to live up to our values as a just and welcoming nation.”
The following mayors also signed the letter: Martin Walsh of Boston; Rahm Emanuel of Chicago; Stephen Benjamin of Columbia, S.C.; Michael Hancock of Denver; Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles; Michael Nutter of Philadelphia; William Peduto of Pittsburgh; Daniel Bianchi of Pittsfield, Mass.; E Murray of Seattle; Francis Slay of St. Louis; and Jonathan Rothschild of Tucson. Ike Leggett, county executive for Montgomery County, Md., also added his name to the letter.
Tens of thousands of Central American children have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months, fleeing deprivation and violence in their native countries. So far this year, the federal government has placed 1,623 of them in the care of sponsors living in Georgia, mostly in the Atlanta area.
“This isn’t a political issue — it’s a humanitarian one,” Reed said in a prepared statement. “I’m proud to sign this statement with my colleagues. As the moral compass of our country, we recognize that being welcoming is consistent with our values as a nation and that includes taking care of the welfare of all of the children in our communities.”
Reed’s comments stand in contrast to a critical letter Gov. Nathan Deal sent President Barack Obama in July. In the letter, Deal said he was shocked to learn hundreds of the children had been brought to Georgia, adding his state has received a “disproportionate number of refugee placements over the past few years.” Deal later softened his tone in a State Capitol meeting with Hispanic community leaders.
The Reed administration has been reaching out to immigrants in recent months. Last month, the mayor announced his administration would create an office of multicultural affairs as part of Atlanta's efforts to create a welcoming environment for everyone regardless of race, ethnicity or native country. And in May, the mayor sided with a group of 39 plaintiffs who were suing for in-state college tuition for immigrants who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children. The plaintiffs lost their suit in Fulton County Superior Court and are now appealing.
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Jeremy Redmon is an award-winning journalist, essayist and educator with more than three decades of experience reporting for newspapers.
