A proposed Taneytown resolution saying illegal immigrants aren?t welcome in the town has received overwhelming support.
Councilman Paul Chamberlain Jr. proposed the resolution but tabled it for a month after Mayor Jim McCarron did not include it on a council meeting agenda in December.
Chamberlain says he?s received dozens of e-mails and phone calls from residents and nonresidents, 95 percent supporting the resolution.
“We need a lot more people like you to stand up to these sob sisters and tell it like it is,” county resident Ed Parks wrote in an e-mail to Chamberlain. “Thank you for your courage in doing so.”
The resolution would make Taneytown, where 96 percent of the 5,500 residents are white, the first “anti-sanctuary city” in Maryland.
Takoma Park reaffirmed itself as a sanctuary city last October, meaning that police officers would turn a blind eye to federal immigration law violations.
Such cities provide a welcoming and patriotic atmosphere for all people, said Eliza Leighton, strategic initiatives director of CASA of Maryland, the largest immigrant advocacy group in the state.
But Chamberlain?s proposal would make all people, illegal or not, perceive Taneytown as a cold and unwelcoming place, she said.
McCarron has been outspoken in his opposition to Chamberlain?s resolution, but it is unclear how other council members will vote next week.
They heard from residents Wednesday night, and so many were expected that the public hearing was moved from the council chambers to the fire house.
“Hopefully, justice will prevail,” Chamberlain said. “We welcome immigrants. We don?t welcome illegal immigrants. There?s a difference.”
“If you want Taneytown to stay the nice, quaint town that it is, you better vote for the resolution,” Montgomery County resident Vincent LoPresti wrote in an e-mail.
“I remember the days when I could say ?good morning? to my next-door neighbor. My new neighbor does not speak English. I have yet to speak with a single American that is against immigration. We are against illegal immigration.”
