On Not Being a Sanctuary City
A repeated push by City Councilor Michael Sullivan to bring forward a proposal declaring that Holyoke is not a “sanctuary city” was tabled in the Development & Governmental Relations Committee this week after a friendly debate. The proposal will instead be taken up at the October meeting of the committee, according to committee Chair Kocayne Givner.
The measure—submitted by Councilors Kevin Jourdain and Linda Vacon—was not discussed because neither councilor appeared at the committee meeting. By tradition, the City Council committees do not act on proposals if the sponsors are absent. As a result, both Givner and Councilor Juan Anderson-Burgos voted against discussing it.
Councilors Sullivan and Carmen Ocasio pushed for the discussion to proceed. Ocasio did not explain her reasoning, but Sullivan did.
The conversation on this matter begins here.
The full proposal is below:
Item 23: 6-17-25 Jourdain, Vacon- Ordered, that the following Resolution of the City Council be adopted and a copy be transmitted to the Department of Homeland Security and our federal delegation and the White House. It shall also be used by all departments of the city with their applications for federal funds and grants when necessary.
1. Holyoke is not a sanctuary city.
2. Mayor Joshua Garcia has publicly declared that Holyoke is not a sanctuary city.
3. The City Council hereby declares Holyoke is not a sanctuary city.
4. Holyoke adopted Ordinance 2-68 “No elected official, department head or other city employee shall issue any order that shall knowingly violate any law or regulation of the federal, state or local government or the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the Charter of the City of Holyoke, or any lawful order of a court of competent jurisdiction. No such order given shall be valid or shall be enforced by the City of Holyoke or its departments.”
5. To the extent, Holyoke has been deemed a sanctuary city by the federal government for failing to comply with any federal law or regulation, the Department of Homeland Security should notify the Holyoke City Council and Mayor of its specific violation and what steps are needed to remedy.
6. The City of Holyoke and all of its employees and agents hereby agree to fully comply with all federal laws and regulations. To the extent the city, its employees or agents have or are violating any federal law or regulation, they shall immediately cease and fully comply.
7. The City of Holyoke requests removal from any identification of our city as a sanctuary city by any federal department or agency.
There is no official definition of what constitutes a “sanctuary city” or state/jurisdiction.
But a common definition of a sanctuary city can be pulled from AI and other sources and search engines. One source, Global Refuge, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, is a nonprofit that helps immigrants. “For 85 years, we have welcomed those seeking refuge, upholding a legacy of compassion and grace for people in crisis,” it states on its website.
Holyoke is not on a list of sanctuary cities, according to the Homeland Security website. The federal department mistakenly put it on the list several months ago. Then stories with the Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno and Holyoke Mayor Joshua García set the record straight. The cities are no longer on the federal list. Read the press release by Homeland Security that can be cut and pasted: www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-publishes-list-sanctuary-jurisdictions.
Councilors Anderson-Burgos and Givner both questioned why Sullivan brought up the proposal without its sponsors present. Sullivan pressed for a vote to discuss it anyway. When that failed, he moved to send the proposal directly to the full City Council.
“It’s not going to happen that way,” Anderson-Burgos said.
“This is a pretty big topic,” added Givner. “If people want to discuss it, it should be discussed in committee. I don’t think we want to debate it in full council all night. That’s what committees are for.”
Both Givner and Sullivan said they had spoken to the proposal’s sponsors.
Sullivan advocated for the motion, saying, in part, that it has national relevance and, “My feeling is I’ve watched the full council debate for an hour — Who sits where? (This is a reference to a long debate last year where some councilors did not like their seating arrangement. The council president determined who was to sit where at the beginning of her tenure.) … “This is something of national attention right now throughout the whole country,” he said. “We’ve had people here protest in front of City Hall tonight. And, I think, to have the debate with all councilors present in the full council would be appropriate.”
City Council President Tessa Murphy Romboletti was on the meeting Zoom and said she did not want to put the proposal on the City Council agenda until after it is discussed in committee and voted on to either move it to the City Council or kill it.
Before adjourning, Anderson-Burgos also pointed out that proposals should be discussed first in committee and then in City Council.
“The whole purpose to have committee meetings or committee hearings and to discuss items on the agenda is to have them discussed here, not to just pull them off the table and then send it straight to the full City Council for a full-blown conversation. When we know this is a very touchy subject across America, this deserves the right way and the right way to have that discussion in committee.”
Outside City Hall, there were about 100 people protesting the motion.
The agenda and documents pertaining to the meeting are here.
Also this week, the Finance Committee threw its support to three Holyoke public schools getting roof work done, as well as updating buildings to comply with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
Said Sean Sheedy, building maintenance supervisor: “We’re getting upgraded bathrooms, we’re getting door handles, we’re getting ramps, we’re getting handrails. There’s all these things that are in Kelly and McMahon that are in desperate need of getting upgraded. And as part of this roof project getting done, those will get done to the common bathrooms.”
In total, about $26M will be spent at the Holyoke High School, Kelly and MacMahon Elementary Schools.
The agenda and documents about the Finance Committee meeting can be read here.
Also meeting this week was the Ordinance Committee, which once again took the matter of whether to add the position of Chief Administrative and Financial Officer to the roster of municipal employees.
Mayor Joshua García has been advocating for the position, saying that managing the city’s finances is more complex than ever and an expert would help the city.
Said Councilor Linda Vacon: “My main issue with this … it’s kind of just repeating ourselves at this point. We’ve had so many meetings on this, but my main thing is that it’s adding too many positions and too much money into the local government, where people, in terms of paying their bills, their fees, their taxes are already overburdened.”
The conversation begins here.
