2/7/17 – Sanctuaries & Sandwiches

Chick-fil-A is one of the most popular restaurant chains in America.

Here’s what’s happening behind the headlines.

Five years ago, the company president said he didn’t believe in same-sex marriage.

Regardless of his personal views, the company doesn’t engage in discriminatory practices against customers or workers [here, here].

Although like all large businesses with 40,000 employees it’s been hit with employment lawsuits. About a dozen in the past 30 years.

It doesn’t matter what someone holds in their heart. Only their behavior counts.

Yet, the mayors of Boston [Tom Menino], Chicago [Rahm Emanuel], San Francisco [Edwin Lee] and Washington, DC [Vincent Gray] announced they would block the chain from operating or expanding in their cities.

[Some news outlets falsely claimed the company was engaging in discriminatory behavior. Even CNN weighed-in on the mayors’ attacks on Chick-fil-A with one columnist referring to Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC as ‘enlightened’ cities.  More recently, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio falsely implied the company actively engaged in discriminatory practices and he lobbied New Yorkers to not frequent its stores.]

Why bring this up now?

Because those same jurisdictions claim to be sanctuary cities.  Individuals who’ve broken immigration law are protected.

[Nearly $27 billion in federal funding is received by sanctuary cities each year.]

City officials are not required to enforce federal law.  But they shouldn’t be accomplices to breaking the law.

Let’s recap.

Some mayors vowed to block a law-abiding company that treats everyone the same.  But the cities shield those who’ve broken the law.

It’s a recipe for failure when officials sworn to uphold the law, pick those they’ll abide by, others to help break, and make-up their own.

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