COUNCIL ENDORSES FORMAL AID POLICY; ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NOT ELIGIBLE.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer Despite several council members calling it redundant, the City Council agreed to draft a formal policy barring the city from providing financial aid to illegal immigrants illegal immigrant n. an alien (non-citizen) who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa. (See: alien) . In a 4-1 vote Tuesday night with Councilman Andy Fox For the FoxTrot character, see . Andy Fox is a first base/infield coach for the Florida Marlins and a former professional baseball player. In Major League Baseball, he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Montreal Expos, and the Florida Marlins. dissenting, the council approved the proposal by Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, who said she was prompted by the recent raid on a local shantytown shan·ty·town n. A town or a section of a town consisting chiefly of shacks. shantytown Noun a town of poor people living in shanties Noun 1. and protests over construction of Community House, a transitional center for the homeless. She said she had received many calls from residents objecting to reports that the city would provide financial assistance to illegal immigrants as a result of the April 17 city code enforcement Code Enforcement is the act of enforcing a set of s, principles, or laws (especially written ones) and insuring observance of a system of norms or customs. An authority usually enforces a civil code, a set of rules, or a body of laws and compel those subject to their authority to action against the shantytown at Royal Oaks and Sunset drives Sunset Drive, locally known as Sunset Drive and Southwest 72nd Street, is an east-west street that runs south of downtown Miami, Florida in Miami-Dade County, Florida. . About a dozen people, some of them illegally in the country, were left homeless. ``I want to stress that the issue has never been Community House, the issue has always been illegal immigrants and financial assistance to them,'' Zeanah said. But council members said federal law prohibits the city from spending tax dollars to assist people living in the country illegally. The city, they said, has never provided financial assistance to illegal aliens. Officials with the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. social service organization Many Mansions Inc., which is building the $2 million, 11-unit Community House apartment complex, have said the project cannot serve illegal immigrants because it is partially funded by federal money. Fox called Zeanah's proposal ridiculous because the city already follows federal laws prohibiting use of tax dollars to assist illegal immigrants. ``I think it's ridiculous that we go through this dog and pony show Dog and pony show was a colloquial term used in the United States in the late-19th and early-20th centuries to refer to small traveling circuses that toured through small towns and rural areas. , because that's what it is,'' Fox said. ``By setting this policy it's an implication that we've been doing something wrong.'' Though the council majority had initially objected to Zeanah's proposal, most voted yes after Fox suggested that the wording on the policy should indicate that it reinforces the city's longstanding policy to not spend tax dollars to provide financial assistance to illegal immigrants. Zeanah had also wanted to schedule a public hearing for Community House, but the council did not support that proposal. Zeanah was spurred in part by activists Horacio and Susan Grana grana /gra·na/ (gra´nah) dense green, chlorophyll-containing bodies in chloroplasts of plant cells. and their son, David, who last week submitted a petition signed by more than 100 people objecting to building Community House on Los Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
The Granas say the the center will serve illegal immigrants and bring crime and other problems to the neighborhood - a charge that Many Mansions officials staunchly staunch 1 also stanch adj. staunch·er also stanch·er, staunch·est also stanch·est 1. Firm and steadfast; true. See Synonyms at faithful. 2. deny. The Granas also say the project had originally been approved solely as an apartment complex and that its status as a transitional center to help homeless families find jobs and homes constitutes a change in use requiring a public hearing that was never held. ``If you do not approve this (public hearing) I will bring it up come election time,'' David Grana said. City Attorney Mark Sellers, however, said the project did not require the public hearing because it essentially remains the apartment complex originally approved in 1990. ``I don't see a necessity for a public hearing - it's been very well clarified in my mind,'' Councilman Mike Markey said. Many Mansions Executive Director Dan Hardy would not comment Wednesday on the council's vote. But he said that the night's comments should clear up any misunderstandings about the purpose of Community House. ``They cleared up the whole issue - they sewed sew v. sewed, sewn or sewed, sew·ing, sews v.tr. 1. To make, repair, or fasten by stitching, as with a needle and thread or a sewing machine: it up, made it clear Many Mansions followed procedures . . . and that the people who were against the project were just radicals, they had no foundational base for their criticism,'' Hardy said. The council vote came after impassioned defenses of Community House from a host of speakers, who ranged from Many Mansions officials to residents. Kathy Brudnicki, a local business owner, said she supported the project because it will provide assistance to people who truly need the help. ``It will help move people to a more stable life,'' she said. ``It will be an asset to our community.'' |
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