Wed 2/8 @ 6:30-8:30PM
The recent crackdown on legal immigrants and visa-holders and refugees from certain countries panders to ignorance and fear, and has millions of decent, patriotic Americans up in arms. Even Ohio’s state treasurer Josh Mandel has jumped into the fray on the side of ignorance and fear, joining with mean-spirited state representative Candice Keller to push a bill to ban sanctuary cities in Ohio.
“Our top priority must be keeping Ohio families safe from radical Islamic terrorists and other threats,” says Mandel, echoing the most craven of the fearmongers. “Sanctuary cities are an out-of-touch, misguided policy that snub their nose at our nation’s laws and undermine the security of our communities. Sanctuary cities will only empower our enemies, not deter them.”
Added the equally hysterical Keller, “All Americans deserve to feel safe in their own communities. Lawlessness has no place in Ohio communities.”
Don’t be a Josh Mandel or a Candice Keller. Arm yourself with facts. Join the Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus for a panel on immigration. Three immigration lawyers, Melissa A. Laubenthal, Karen Gabriel Moss and Svetlana Schreiber, will talk about Trump’s executive order that threw the country into an uproar as legal green card and visa holders and well-vetted refugees were turned away and thousands of people flocked to international airports to support them.
They’ll share the basics of immigration law and how people get to come to this country, and explore the misconceptions and/or falsehoods that underpin the executive order. The panel will also include Danielle Drake, community relations director of refugee resettlement agency US Together Inc., who will talk about what refugees are really like, why they are here and what they do to integrate into this country. She really needs to have a serious talk with Josh Mandel and Candice Keller.
The event takes place at Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Headquarters in AsiaTown’s Tyler Village. It’s free and open to all — you definitely do not have to be a Democrat, just have some concern for your fellow humans and be willing to hear about what it really means to be an immigrant or refugee.