Holocaust Memorial And Immigration - Hallandale Beach Has Taken A Strong Position When It Comes To Law And Order

By Hallandale Beach Mayor, Joy Cooper
January 29, 2025
This Monday was the 80th Anniversary of the Remembrance of the Holocaust. As a daughter of a WWII Veteran, it is also in my opinion to remember the many Veteran “Liberators.” (Pictured: Such as we do on Veteran's Day in Hallandale Beach)
Yes, it is true that America sadly sat by the sidelines while the final solution was being conducted. Winston Churchill pleaded for our country to help Europe as they fought against Hitler and the Nazi Extremism.
My father did not speak about the war until he himself was reaching his late seventies. He met a group of Holocaust survivors at an event at our wonderful Chabad. One of the survivors kindly reached out to get his attention and thanked him for being a WWII hero and helping to end the war and liberate the camps.
Words cannot express how this changed my father’s view of WWII. He had carried his memories like many soldiers. They were too painful and guilt ridden. These few heartfelt words of thanks opened his heart and lifted the guilt he had from bombing his parents’ home country of Italy. He felt a weight lifted and was able to talk about his missions. He had gone on over fifty-four such bombings and bailed out twice, receiving two Purple Hearts.
Over the past year watching the many misguided pro Palestinian youth I have recommitted myself to ensuring our younger generation is taught the facts about hatred and Antisemitism. I could only imagine the words my father would have for such ignorance. We are blessed to have the Holocaust Documentation and Educational Center minutes away in Dania Beach.
Now that the survivors are passing away, we need to make sure their stories are remembered and told. The true stories and lessons surrounding how Nazis turned hatred of the Jew and other marginalized groups through propaganda and lies needs to be taught. It is the law in Florida that students are taught about the Holocaust. Since COVID-19 these efforts have been woefully short.
I am partnering with the center and retired teacher and friend Marilyn Santiago to make sure our students visit the center in the coming months. If you want to help us, please reach out to me for more information.
As Jews, we need to realize it does not matter if there are Republicans or Democrats in charge. We need all individuals to support the efforts against Antisemitism. We all dropped the ball when it came to our college campuses. Hate Speech is not Free Speech. It should be stopped, and every student should be able to feel safe at school.
I personally agree that all public funding should be cut off from these institutions that are spreading lies and misinformation. My friend and former Mayor of Philadelphia teaches a class at Columbia. He 100 percent confirmed that most of these individuals were not students and simple agitators showing up, camping out and starting problems.
The past week we have seen a world wind of change sweep across our country. It is a result of the election that was lost by the Democrats. Yes, it was close, but President Trump won. People are simply tired of the lack of common sense and failure of our institutions to uphold the law.
The days of everyone should get a second chance and it is ok to break the laws is over. The pendulum has swung all too far. If you are here illegally, it is illegal. If you are a criminal, you should be in jail. If you are here illegally and a criminal, you should be in jail and sent back. That is only common sense. Either way the commitment to crackdown on undocumented immigrants is sending a chilling effect throughout every city in our nation. The weekend of the inauguration was also the winter leadership meeting of the US Mayors. Our key issues are housing, Infrastructure and immigration. As an organization we are non-partisan so many Mayors share varying positions on immigration. It needs to be made extremely clear that the super majority of cities are not “so called” sanctuary cities. Hallandale Beach has never been a sanctuary city.
We swear to uphold the laws of our country, state and city. We have taken a strong position when it comes to law and order. If you break the law, you will be arrested. We make arrests but then criminals are booked into the Broward County system. The Broward County Sheriff’s Department executed an agreement with ICE in 2019. The question becomes are the rules being followed. The MOU between ICE and BSO constitutes an agreement between ICE and delegates to BSO personnel the authority to perform certain immigration enforcement functions as specified herein.
The purpose of this collaboration is to promote public safety by facilitating the custodial transfer of specific aliens in BSO's jail correctional facilities to ICE for removal purposes at the time of the alien's scheduled release from criminal custody.
I have set up a meeting with the Chief and City Manager to further educate myself on this extremely critical issue. Our main goal as a city is to keep our residents safe. As a smaller public safety organization, diluting our staffing levels for training and providing services not intended for local law enforcement could put our residents at risk. Our lane per say is fighting street crime, thefts, robbery, domestic violence and day to day policing. Obviously, if we catch an undocumented immigrant during an arrest they will go to jail and be reported to BSO.
It is only the beginning. We will be keenly watching as rules and regulations are rolled out. We are also concerned about funding freezes and cuts to our Infrastructure programs. I will continue to keep our residents informed.
As always, I am available anytime for your questions, concerns, and ideas to make our City a better place on my Phone/Text at: (954) 632-5700. Or you can email me at: jcooper@cohb.org. Please visit me on my Facebook page at Mayor Joy Cooper. Like, follow, and share.