On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Chicago Alderman Brian Hopkins acknowledged that city leaders did send a message that anyone could come by being a sanctuary city — although he doesn’t agree with sending that message — but nobody “had any idea that it would lead to this today” when the city became a sanctuary city in the 1980s and the current situation “was completely unpredicted and it’s completely unprecedented and nobody thought a sanctuary city would mean what it means.”
Co-host Sandra Smith asked, [relevant exchange begins around 3:30] “[D]idn’t leadership in your city say, we’re a sanctuary city, all are welcome, wasn’t that the message?”
Hopkins responded, “Yes, you’re not hearing that from me. I think if we had to vote all over again on authorization for whether Chicago is going to be a sanctuary city, I’m not sure we would be. In fact, we tried to put a referendum on the ballot in March coming up to ask the voters, do you want to be a sanctuary city? And the mayor and his team blocked that effort. So, we don’t know if there is political will to continue being a sanctuary city. But I will say this: Our status as a sanctuary city first was established way back in the ’80s. This is not new. We put this flag in the ground a long time ago. No one, at that time, had any idea that it would lead to this today. This was completely unpredicted and it’s completely unprecedented and nobody thought a sanctuary city would mean what it means.”
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