Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. 

By Britt Nelson

For the past seven days the headlines have screamed “U.S. entry denied for Iraqis,” “Airports engulfed in protests,” “Sanctuary cities threatened,” and “Trump orders extreme vetting from Muslim countries.”

President Donald Trump’s first week has ended with his first televised address to the nation that was not broadcast to the nation by the mainstream media. In a two-and-a-half minute address delivered Saturday from the White House, he repeated his desire to bring back jobs to America, scrap ObamaCare, keep undocumented immigrants out of the US, and eliminate sanctuary cities calling them “unsafe” and a “horrible situation.”

In his address, President Trump explained briefly how his administration is moving quickly in all of these areas to advance the American worker and keep America safer from Islamic radicals by imposing a temporary travel ban to and from Muslim-majority countries such as Iran, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Syria.

Of course the media is claiming discrimination against Muslims, but Trump’s directive has to do with national security. Mainstream media quickly pounced on the news of a dozen or so foreigners detained Saturday at the JFK airport in New York City due to Trump’s order. They are covering the protesters clogging the streets in front of international airports from coast-to-coast, but no coverage of President Trump delivering heartfelt words of sincerity and determination to improve the country for all its citizens. This is an amazing disregard of real news in exchange for the sensationalizing of political views.

This week President Trump also signed an executive order to withhold federal grant money for 140 jurisdictions — including 37 major cities — across America, according to Wikipedia. The ‘Sanctuary City’ movement began in California in 1979 and the concept has spread far and wide. Many of the mayors of these sanctuary cities are vowing to ignore Trump’s order even facing the loss of millions of dollars in federal funds.

Simply stated sanctuary cities refuse to maintain undocumented immigrants in jails for long periods of time while immigration officials review their cases. Under President Trump this ‘sanctuary city’ thing is changing and the mayors are fighting back.

Breaking from the pack, Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez the day after President Trump’s executive order, ordered Miami jail officials to comply with federal immigration detainer requests that lead to deportations. Gimenez decided not to risk losing $355 million in federal funding in 2017 to protect undocumented immigrants.

“I want to make sure we don’t put in jeopardy the millions of funds we get from the federal government,” Gimenez said. “It doesn’t mean that we’re going to be arresting more people.”

Across America, the largest top-ten sanctuary cities stand to lose $2.27 billion in federal funds in 2017 if they refuse to comply with federal immigration officers seeking to deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records, according to Reuters News.

In contrast, Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel clearly stated he intended to ignore President Trump’s directive.

“We’re going to stay a sanctuary city,” Emanuel said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Wherever you are from, you’re welcome here.”

Common sense seems to have been thrown to the wind. The anti-Trump protesters holding up their signs that read, “No Ban, No Wall,” “Trump Out, Immigrants In,” “No Muslim Ban,” “Let Our People Go,” “We Are All Immigrants,” have lost sight of the reality of radical Islam and those seeking to destroy America from within. They will strike again.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.