Salinas declares “welcoming city” status

There’s now a resolution on the books in Salinas for the many undocumented immigrants who call the city home and haven’t broken the law since coming to the United States.

“What it states… is that we are not going to dedicate any city resources to the collection of immigration or citizenship information. That includes human resources, like the police department,” said Chris Callihan, city attorney. “The same holds true for other city departments.”

Sound familiar? Still, Callihan is not calling Salinas a “sanctuary city”.

“The city approved last night what’s called a welcoming city resolution. So, for all intents and purposes … most people would consider (it) to be a sanctuary city resolution,” Callihan said.

Salinas City Council voted 4 to 3 in Feburary, rejecting a sanctuary city declaration. So, what’s different now?

“The big change was that court decision, which said that that executive order (to withhold funds from sanctuary juristictions) is unconstitutional. The federal government cannot withhold funds to sanctuary jurisdictions, welcoming cities, whatever you want to call them, because of that executive order,” Callihan explained.

Council member Tony Barrera, who helped draft the resolution, said there was concern that using the word sanctuary will flag Salinas to the Trump administration and put its $14 million federal in jeopardy.

Callihan said the name chosen has more to do with making people feel welcome.

“The council subcommittee tried to make a resolution that was inclusive of everyone in the community and not just those who like the term sanctuary or prefer that term,” Callihan said. “They wanted to make sure that they had something which would get a broader council support and community support.”

Some in the community said it’s about time.

“For the immigrants that have come here to work, that they should be welcomed. And they work in the community and their children go to school and get an education,” said resident Cindy Mcrae.