This week, the city launched a campaign featuring TV and radio ads, billboards and bus signs reminding residents of its status as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. The $83,000 blitz will include brochures distributed at police stations and hospitals, promising safe access to city services regardless of residency status.
"We're inviting people to come out of the shadows and take advantage of services," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. San Francisco has tried to make this point clear for years.
Gavin makes a lot of points, ever notice that? I want to believe him - I think what he does, from gay marriage to making it clear that making people too scared to seek help or healthcare is monsterous, is, frankly, beautiful.
But then the ugly pragmatist in me rises up and slaps me upside the head: are you kidding me? Just hand them the White House already! Predictably, one comeback is that this is an insult to the people who did things the right way, applied, waited, etc. But that's not really comparing apples and apples. San Francisco doesn't have the power to grant amnesty - which is the only thing that really might insult those who waited to get here. One healthy immigrant child means a classroom is healthier altogether. One mother less afraid of seeking help from the cops in cases of domestic violence is one less dead mother and one step closer to eradicating violence generally.
Oops, so much for pragmatism.
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