More than a hundred people crowded Wednesday night’s Binghamton City Council meeting to voice their opinions in response to a recently proposed “Welcoming Cities Resolution.”
The resolution was introduced by City Councilman Conrad Taylor, a junior majoring in political science. According to him, the resolution is an effort to ensure his constituents from other countries feel safe living in Broome County. The resolution came about after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven countries from entering the country for 120 days.
“There are folks from these organizations and in our community who feel really disheartened by what they’re seeing,” Taylor said. “It is my job as their elected official to introduce a resolution to make the very important critical statement that Binghamton is a welcoming city for immigrants and refugees.”
The meeting was held in Binghamton City Hall and was attended by BU students, faculty and community members, including representatives from the American Civic Association and Southern Tier Family Planning.
Brianna Cea, a sophomore double-majoring in political science and politics, philosophy and law, shared her experiences with international students with the council.
“We have prospective students wondering if it is really worth working with the community and making lives here,” Cea said. “I encourage you to support this resolution so that when I talk to international students … I can tell them yes, not only does the community support you but so do the elected officials.”
Taylor is one of two Democrats on City Council, alongside Councilwoman Dani Cronce, who has vocally stood against Taylor’s resolution. Cronce said that she believed this one was too similar to a resolution from 2015 that did not pass, and therefore this also would not pass in the current council.
“I do want a resolution, but the resolution that City Councilman Conrad Taylor handed to me is the same one that failed, and I wanted to make sure that we can work with the Republican Party to make sure that this will pass,” Cronce said. “This is a people issue that does not involve politics.”
Taylor responded to the Cronce’s defense by saying that the meaning of the resolution and concerns of the residents in attendance were more important than the egos of the member of the council.
“It’s not about me, or Dani, or anything like that,” Taylor said. “It’s not a ‘go Conrad’ thing.”
While the resolution is primarily symbolic, putting no action into law, it would send a statement of hope to refugees and immigrants around the world. Bridget Whearty, an associate professor of English and medieval studies at BU, said that she thinks the resolution will help immigrant students and community members who are in fear.
“Now I watch my students at Binghamton University suffer and become very frightened in the face of this statement,” Whearty said. “You have heard that what will happen tonight may not change national policy, but it will change my student’s experiences immediately. You will not only be sending an important message about basic values that Binghamton holds dear, but you will be telling … that the American dream is not dead here.”
While the resolution was not voted on tonight, the City Council said it plans to make changes to it and to two other immigration-related resolutions at the next work session. At this time, there is no date set to vote on Taylor’s resolution, and there are no apparent plans to vote on it in the near future.