PROVIDENCE – Mayor Jorge O. Elorza on Monday launched a new campaign – part of his One Providence Initiative – to bring issues related to immigration, racism and criminal justice to the forefront of public discussion leading up to the January inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Each week leading up to Inauguration Day, on Jan. 20, Elorza plans to announce new policies and initiatives to “give reassurance to the city’s most vulnerable and marginalized residents that the city will continue to support them,” according to an announcement.
“I am more convinced than ever that the work we do at the local level is essential to safeguarding the values that define us as a community,” Elorza said in prepared remarks. “We cannot stand idly as members of our community are bullied, targeted and scapegoated on the national stage. With so much uncertainty ahead, it’s important that we come together as a city to support one another, in every way we can.”
Elorza’s new initiative comes less than a week after Trump, a Republican, won the United States presidential election. Trump, who lost in Rhode Island, was outperformed in Providence where 80.9 percent of the electorate voted for Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton. Much of Trump’s campaign was focused on an aggressive immigration-reform platform, including calls to deport up to three million undocumented immigrants in the United States. About two million undocumented immigrants have been deported during President Barack H. Obama’s tenure in office. Pew Research estimated there were about 30,000 undocumented immigrants in Rhode Island in 2014, representing 3.13 percent of the overall population.
The mayor, whose parents emigrated from Guatemala, says his pre-inauguration announcements will focus on the following topics:
- Local immigration reform
- Implicit and embedded racism
- Criminal justice reform
- Police-community relations
- Environmental justice
- Support for women and families; Muslims and religious minorities and the LGBTQ community
“These announcements are an expression of our values as a city,” Elorza said. “While folks may feel threatened by what they hear at the national level, I want them to know that they are supported and they are safe here in Providence.”
The city will host a community forum to “allow input on what [the] biggest concerns are in light of the results of the presidential election.” It will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Iglesia Vision Evangelica on Broad Street.
