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A Place of Refuge

Sanctuary.

Have you ever needed it? Have you ever known that experience? I haven't. And because of that, I almost didn't write about this today (White privilege. Gotta love it.)

Last night County Council members Jen Terrasa and Calvin Ball prefiled legislation to make Howard County a sanctuary county.

 "AN ACT providing that certain individuals shall take, or refrain from taking, specified actions with respect to the immigration status of specified individuals; prohibiting certain discrimination based on citizenship status; requiring that certain information related to citizenship status be kept confidential; providing a procedure whenever specified provisions may be preempted by other law; requiring specified officials to take actions under certain circumstances; and generally relating to human rights in Howard County."

What does that mean?

It means honoring rights that I take for granted. It means caring about the well-being of all in Howard County and not just protecting the privileged. Fiercely defending human rights for all does not infringe upon the rights of some; in fact, it makes us all stronger. And safer.

We've been talking about One Howard and Speak Up Howard lately as we struggle with issues of racism, diversity, and inclusion. Will we be vocal and unified in supporting the rights of the vulnerable?

Public testimony will be on January 17th at 7 pm.





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