The designation would have provided some immunity and safety to minorities against Trump’s executive orders regarding immigrants.
Edison Councilwoman Sapana Shah’s effort to get “fair and welcoming” designation for the predominantly immigrant-populated Edison township was denied on Friday. The proposal was under evaluation by the chief of police and township lawyer, with the knowledge of the Council President Michael R. Lombardi.
Shah had proposed a resolution during Township Council meeting on Wednesday to get special designation for her hometown. If passed, it would have provided some immunity and safety to minorities against Donald Trump’s executive orders regarding immigrants.
Shah proposed the designation to publicly demonstrate the city’s support for immigrants and minorities in the wake of Trump’s policies that are seen as anti-immigrant.
“Edison has made some progress toward inclusion over the past few years, but simply saying that New Jersey’s fifth-largest municipality ‘embraces diversity’ does not go far enough in today’s intolerant climate,” Shah was quoted as saying by a New Jersey news portal. “I believe it is our duty as elected officials to make everyone who lives and works here feel safe and welcome.”
A “fair and welcoming” designation would have restricted local enforcement of federal immigration law, municipal spending of funds, time and resources to facilitate deportations, permit federal immigration authorities like ICE/CBP/USCIS to access municipal facilities without proper judicial warrant, bias-based profiling and conditioning municipal services on immigration status. It would have established a Fair and Welcoming City Commission to help immigrant communities with concerns about safety, among others.
But the refusal for the “fair and welcoming” designation has come as a blow to the township that has the distinction of hosting the largest Indian American population in the US. According to the US Census Bureau, Indian American constituted 33 percent of the total population in Edison, which is in Middlesex County, in 2015.
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Shah, a seasoned civil and criminal litigator, who also serves as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in Jersey City, is past-president of the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association.
A graduate of John P. Stevens High School in Edison, she has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University and she worked as financial analyst for Dun & Bradstreet before graduating from Albany Law School.