{"id":106848,"date":"2026-02-06T09:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/106848\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T09:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:23:08","slug":"inside-easton-city-councils-attitude-on-immigration-the-lafayette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/106848\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Easton City Council\u2019s attitude on immigration \u2013 The Lafayette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Recently<\/a> <\/p>\n

Photo by Makenna McCall<\/a> for The Lafayette <\/p>\n

Recently increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement mobilization has led to protests nationwide. <\/p>\n

As unrest over immigration enforcement grows nationwide, Easton\u2019s position reflects a balancing act established months earlier. The city has pledged support for immigrants while declining to adopt a legally-binding \u201cwelcoming city\u201d<\/a> ordinance that surrounding cities have implemented multiple times.<\/p>\n

A December resolution<\/p>\n

Easton City Council unanimously approved an immigrant protection resolution during its Dec. 10 meeting, affirming the city\u2019s commitment to protecting immigrants and immigrant communities.<\/p>\n

The resolution<\/a>, which was co-sponsored by all council members, is largely symbolic. It encourages cooperation with organizations to provide legal immigration assistance and suggests, but does not require, that city officials not employ city resources to assist immigration enforcement unless legally required to do so.<\/p>\n

It also recognizes the \u201cessential contributions of immigrants,\u201d including an appendix detailing industries with workforce shortages that are supported by immigrant labor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will only deal with helping ICE by federal law,\u201d Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said in a recent interview. \u201cWe have to help ICE if they have a warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panto also mentioned his concerns with the lack of formal training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, highlighting the extensive training process required of Easton law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Multiple residents spoke in favor of the resolution prior to the final vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPassing this resolution sends a message that Easton is committed to being a safe, stable and inclusive place for all residents, longtime Easton families and newly arrived families alike,\u201d Wilson resident Ronald Byron Johnson said during the meeting. \u201cIt tells our local workforce, our community organizations and our youth that Easton stands by its values, even in a time where national rhetoric can be so divisive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is about resisting fear, because fear is the quiet destroyer of community and isolates people,\u201d said Mark Rosenzweig, a member of the Lehigh Valley Democratic Socialists of America, who spoke in support of the resolution during the same meeting. \u201cIt drives them into the shadows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018By actions, not by words\u2019<\/p>\n

The resolution\u2019s approval came after a 10-month-long debate regarding the possible implementation of a \u201cwelcoming city\u201d ordinance, which was struck down in August following concerns of the city being targeted by immigration enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a welcoming city by actions, not by words,\u201d Panto said. \u201cI\u2019m not in favor of a welcoming city. It seems that welcoming cities are being targeted by the federal administration. So we would rather fly under the radar.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the would-be ordinance and the resolution contain a lot of similar information, including guidelines for how city officials should interact with immigration enforcement, the resolution only recommends what the ordinance would have put into law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, the statement, it\u2019s really just telling people, \u2018Hey, we are with you,\u2019\u201d said former councilwoman Taiba Sultana, who introduced the welcoming city ordinance and the recent protection resolution. Sultana is no longer on the city\u2019s council after she was voted out in the May primary.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it means literally nothing, honestly,\u201d she added. \u201cBecause it\u2019s not a law, it\u2019s just a statement in solidarity. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Makenna McCall for The Lafayette Recently increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement mobilization has led to protests…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-106848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}