Over 200 cities in 32 states have laws to protect illegal immigrants in America. These cities are known as sanctuary cities- many of which are located right here in New Jersey.

According to Apsan Law Offices, a ‘sanctuary city’ is “a city in the United States that follows certain procedures that shelters illegal immigrants.” Asbury Park, Camden, East Orange, Jersey City, Linden, New Brunswick, Newark, North Bergen, Plainfield, Trenton and Union City are some of the sanctuary cities of New Jersey.

President Trump recently announced that he wants to cut federal funding from the cities because they protect the illegal immigrants. Many leaders of these cities have promised to protect these immigrants from Trump’s law. Rolando Lavarro, the President of Jersey City Council, said that Jersey City would continue to be a “safe haven for immigrants.”

A survey sent out to Hills showed that about 75 percent of students believe sanctuary cities are important to America.

Freshman Sofia Papadopoulos says, “With current events going on, the U.S. needs to be open to home safe people and sanctuary cities are perfect places to do this.”

Agreeing with Papadopoulos, senior Nicole Nuñez says, “A lot of illegal immigrants are our best workers and they do contribute to our economy. I believe that these cities give these people a place to stay and be safe while they are in the process of gaining citizenship.”

For senior Andrew Antonacci, the importance of sanctuary cities is very personal to him, as his “grandfather and grandmother weren’t [legal] citizens for a long time while they lived in North Bergen, but they both worked to earn their citizenship while living there.”

The other 25 percent of the Hills’ student body believe that these cities are unimportant for various reasons.

Growing up in North Bergen, senior Eric Alvarez also has a personal connection to sanctuary cities of New Jersey. However he says that he, “personally do[es] not think there is anything wrong with Trump deporting illegal immigrants because they are in fact breaking the law whether or not they are peaceful.”

Junior Michael Mironidis said, “If [people] came illegally [to America], then they are breaking the law. These cities are allowing them and even promoting them to do so.”

Agreeing with Mironidis, sophomore Frank Scott said, “People who come to the United States illegally, whether we like or it or not, are doing something illegal, which makes them criminals in my book. Cities who shelter these people are just making it more difficult to enforce the law. I’m not well educated on the details of sanctuary cities, however, from my point of view, they only contribute to poverty and increased crime.”

According to USA Today, if Sen. Jeff Sessions is selected as Attorney General, “he will be able to sue cities on the grounds they are violating federal law by refusing to cooperate with immigration enforcement.” As shown by survey results, the importance of sanctuary cities is very controversial- even within the student body of Hills.