Donald Trump might be the President, but the west coast liberal enclave of San Francisco, California refuses to let him sway the policies of the inclusive sanctuary city. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors passed a resolution after November 8, 2016, signed by the Board president London Breed, that completely tells Trump where he can shove the racist platform he ran on and has now governed by since his election.
The city clearly loved the resolution after its passage, because this year they made Breed their mayor.
The compact says in no uncertain terms that San Francisco will never surrender its identity, and will continue to be an official sanctuary city — similar to cities across the country that passed similar measures. The basic meaning of the resolution is that undocumented immigrants will not be prosecuted simply for being here without a legal status. It does not prevent the city from prosecuting those immigrants for any other crimes, of course, although Trump and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions have argued that it does exactly that.
We will not turn our back on the men and women from other countries who help make this city great, and who represent over one third of our population. This is the Golden Gate — we build bridges, not walls.”
The measure also stipulated that they will “never back down on women’s rights, whether in healthcare, the workplace, or any other area threatened by a man who treats women as obstacles to be demeaned or objects to be assaulted. And just as important, we will ensure our young girls grow up with role models who show them they can be or do anything.”
The resolution also reinforced the city’s ban on “conversion therapy,” a cruel form of treatment to “pray the gay away.” Gay conversion therapy has never been proven to be anything but harmful and destructive, but Vice President Mike Pence is still notoriously a fan.
San Francisco also vowed to fight climate change, to keep its public transportation, regardless of federal funding, and to never give in to the white nationalism that has snaked its way through the policies of Trump and the attitudes of his supporters.
California is the sixth largest economy in the world. The Bay Area is the innovation capital of the country. We will not be bullied by threats to revoke our federal funding, nor will we sacrifice our values or members of our community for your dollar.”
The city closed with a final passage, covering nearly everything:
We condemn all hate crimes and hate speech perpetrated in this election’s wake. That although the United States will soon have a President who has demonstrated a lack of respect for the values we hold in the highest regard in San Francisco, it cannot change who we are, and it will never change our values. We argue, we campaign, we debate vigorously within San Francisco, but on these points we are 100 percent united. We will fight discrimination and recklessness in all its forms. We are one City. And we will move forward together.
Well done, city by the bay.
California was determined this year to be the 6th-largest economy in the world. The state gives more to the federal government than it receives, as is the case with most “blue” states. The leverage this affords the state as a stalwart against the Trump administration cannot be understated, especially since one last seat in the state legislature in Washington State turned the entire west coast into a “blue wall” governed by Democratic-majority legislatures and Democratic Governors.
We’ve never been so happy to see a giant middle finger.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons
