State College Borough Council Member Defends 'Sanctuary City' Status

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - State College Borough Council Member Jesse Barlow defended the position to designate their municipality as a 'Sanctuary City,' telling Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that he hopes this move will make the community safer.

"Our concern was for the safety of people living here. People who, for example, wish to report a crime. We do not want them to fear coming forward because of their immigration status and the kinds of crime that...the borough police are in charge of enforcing, like assaults, sexual assaults and other things, we want people to feel free to come forward."

Barlow also said he does not want to see individuals deported who have lived in the borough for many years.

"A lot of the people who we are thinking of being here as undocumented immigrants are people who have been here all of their lives and have known no other home. That's really the specific target of that...Penn State, essentially, has the same policy we do on this. They don't pursue immigration cases against people."