By Howard Packowitz
BLOOMINGTON – Just as swearing-in ceremonies concluded Monday night for Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner and newly-elected aldermen, city leaders were greeted by hundreds of protesters outside, calling on the city council to declare Bloomington a ‘welcoming city’ for immigrants.
About 300 people, part of the Keeping Families Together Campaign, showed up on a cold and drizzly evening outside city hall. Among them, Divah Griffin of the local Black Lives Matter group.
Like all those who spoke, Griffin was highly critical of the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown…
“If we read between the lines, the war against immigrants isn’t about making America great again. It’s about making America white again,” Griffin said.
Renner, sworn-in for a second term about an hour earlier, told the gathering they represent the “better part of humanity.”
“The kinds of arguments and points that you’re making, the stories that you’re telling are real, and those lives that are being ruined, frankly by human ignorance,” said Renner.
The mayor said the council will consider a “welcoming city” ordinance this spring or summer.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
