UPDATED: Jan. 30, 2018 at 4:37 p.m.

Rebecca Fuentes said a friend of hers was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency just four days before Christmas.

Fuentes, a lead organizer of the Workers’ Center of Central New York grassroots organization, said the father of three young children was held by ICE after dropping his wife off at work, and eventually taken to a detention facility in Batavia, a small city in western New York.

It’s moments like this Fuentes hopes Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh keeps in mind, she said, as he considers the “sanctuary city” issue. She remains positive about the new mayor’s outlook on federal immigration policy, Fuentes said.

And she’s not alone. A few members of the CNY Solidarity Coalition, which has staged several protests since the election of President Donald Trump, say they think Walsh is headed in the right direction. But other local activists disagree.

Members of the coalition are still concerned by Walsh’s hesitation to publicly use the “sanctuary city” phrase to describe Syracuse, about a year after the terminology received national recognition after Trump’s administration implemented a controversial travel ban that affected several majority Muslim countries.

A sanctuary city is a broad term that generally means a jurisdiction will not require local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE detainers. Walsh has said the phrase “sanctuary city” is not a legal definition.

Walsh, an independent who swept into office this past year by promising a nonpartisan approach to politics, has said he plans to keep in place policies enacted by former Mayor Stephanie Miner, though, that do not require police to arrest people based on immigration status — a policy frequently implemented by sanctuary cities.

“We think the mayor’s heart is in the right place,” Fuentes said. “I think we need to talk more to him, have meetings (so he) can understand what the community is going through and how he can support it.”

Joe Driscoll, Syracuse’s common councilor of the 5th District, in a public meeting this past December said that, “while (Walsh) may not support the title, he still supports the concept of not wasting resources on stuff that’s not a problem.”

Driscoll, at the time, said Walsh has no plans no change police protocol “as it stands.”

“I’m unwavering in my commitment to ensure Syracuse remains welcoming to all whose intentions are to make our city better. The term sanctuary city is not a legal one and it adds no real protections,” Walsh said in a statement to The Daily Orange. “I want (to) uphold impactful policies that benefit all the people in our city. Any policy changes that we consider will be in close consultation with the Common Council.”

Julio Urrutia, a CNY Solidarity Coalition member, said he was concerned that the mayor’s hesitation about using the actual “sanctuary city” term to describe Syracuse could be perceived as a lack of support for immigrants.

“We all have a sense that as human beings, no one is illegal, and at least from my faith, which is Christian, the Bible teaches us that, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me,’” Urrutia said.

Dana Balter, a CNY Solidarity Coalition member and 24th Congressional District candidate who hopes to oppose incumbent Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) this fall, said she believes words carry just as much weight as actions.

“I understand his rationale. His argument is that as long as the policies are in place, it doesn’t matter what you call it. I disagree with that,” Balter said, a visiting assistant professor in Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “I think it matters very much what we say. I think the words we use carry tremendous weight, they are very important symbols, and symbols matter.”

In early 2017, Miner declared Syracuse a sanctuary city. The term quickly became a hot-button issue, as cities across the country reacted to an executive order signed by Trump that aimed to cut federal funding to jurisdictions that were considered sanctuaries.

That executive order’s proposal was eventually blocked by a federal judge in Chicago. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatened to block funding again last week.

Ron Van Norstrand, a member of the CNY Solidarity Coalition and Syracuse-based attorney, though, said he believes the “notion” of a sanctuary city is not enough, and that more action must be taken besides just the designation of a term.

“I’m not at all pleased by that, because I think there has to be more walk than talk, so to speak,” Van Norstrand said. “I don’t think it’s enough that you’re a sanctuary city, I think you’ve got to do what you can to enforce it.”

But other members of the group, such as Fuentes, said they thought Walsh’s stance on sanctuary cities was promising or appropriate.

Andy Mager, who’s on the coordinating committee of the CNY Solidarity Coalition and is a Syracuse Cultural Workers employee, said he believes that as long as Walsh remains committed to maintaining the immigration policies the Miner administration implemented, he isn’t concerned.

He said Walsh’s decision to appoint Sharon Owens as his deputy mayor was encouraging for the coalition. Owens, a former official in the city’s Department of Neighborhood and Business Development and the former chief executive officer of a nonprofit that manages a community center in the southwestern section of Syracuse, is known as a local activist.

Walsh’s hiring of Owens was more encouraging to the coalition than his hesitation regarding the sanctuary city term, Mager said. Fuentes said the Workers’ Center of CNY plans to meet with Walsh to help him understand local concerns.

“There’s so much fear and so much uncertainty, and to have the leaders like him to show courage and leadership is very important and very encouraging. I think he’s going to come around,” Fuentes said. “He seems to be someone who likes to learn and to listen, and I think that he’s going to see that this is what the community wants.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Joe Driscoll was misnamed. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Rebecca Fuentes’ city of residence and group affiliation were misstated. Fuentes is a lead organizer of the Workers’ Center of Central New York.

Published on January 29, 2018 at 11:22 pm