Council jumps in Immigration Debate

Tom Rawles and the city council have jumped in to defend Gascon on immigration. Its not all that surprising that Rawles picked up the mantle on this because "personal freedom" seems to be an issue right in his wheelhouse and because he is one of the people who is falling off the council. Its an interesting way for the council to take a stand without making a commitment of anyone who is sticking around or running for Mayor.

You can read the entire speech by Rawles transcribed in Joanna Allhands' blog. I thought it was interesting that Rawles places the notion of being a "sanctuary city" at the feet of the council and their decisions at least twice. He proceeds to defend their actions and attempts to fight these perceptions.

The problem is that too often perception is reality. People from all over are saying that Mesa is a sanctuary city, and so it goes until Mesa starts to defend itself. Rawles has proven before that he is willing to take a stand, but I wonder if the rest of the council will follow suit. This is going to take more than one outraged speech to turn the tide.

Also, I think its very interesting that the comments appear to have been turned off in the online edition of this story. Is it such a divisive issue that people are unable to have civilized dialogue?