EASTON, Pa. — Easton City Council on Wednesday erupted into arguments over a resolution calling for the support and protection of immigrants, leading to the measure being tabled.
Scheduled to be introduced under new business, the resolution maintains the sentiment of Councilwoman Taiba Sultana’s original proposal, and ordinance, without setting any precedents for the city regarding working alongside federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Key points of the resolution include:
- To encourage the federal government to recognize the contributions to society of the vast majority of undocumented immigrants;
- To develop a clear and easily managed pathway for undocumented immigrants to become citizens in a timely manner;
- To address immigrants arriving at borders with humane living conditions, keeping families together and providing assistance for pathways to legally enter the country.
The resolution also is to be sent to President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania's U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, and 10 other municipalities.
The intent is that those municipalities would adopt a similar measure and send their own to 10 additional municipalities.
But certain additions to Easton’s resolution will push the vote on the matter back to December, after it had already been tabled in October 2025.
'A clean resolution'
As soon as the matter came up for discussion under committee reports, Councilwoman Crystal Rose requested it be tabled to add additional language.
Rose said she had attended a municipal conference the week before, and after hearing from business owners, hospitals, elder care facilities, restaurants, the agricultural industry and the trades experiencing “real workforce gaps,” she felt additions to Sultana’s resolution were needed.
“I don't want to come back and amend something. I want to put something forward that is the actual resolution that we're passing.”Easton City Councilman Roger Ruggles
“I'd like to add language that supports legal immigration pathways and eventual citizenship, that helps reflect those needs and aligns the resolution with what's happening across our region and the country,” Rose said.
“As we know, and some people stated earlier today, too, when people are able to work legally, they contribute through taxes, and they help stabilize and support our local economy in positive ways.”
Rose said she was waiting on information from the National Immigration Forum in Washington, D.C., which she wanted to include in the resolution.
Simply amend it later
Sultana asked whether council could simply pass the resolution now and amend it later.
Rose and other members of council, including Roger Ruggles, who wrote the original resolution upon which Sultana’s expands, said they preferred not to.
“I’m not interested in amending it," Rose said. "I’d like us to be able to send this out to our higher levels of government, and hope that it has more teeth.”
“How dare you accuse me?”Easton Councilwoman Crystal Rose
Ruggles agreed, saying the original resolution had been tweaked over the years, but he would like to see this latest iteration complete before it would be sent to other municipalities and federal offices.
“I think if we put it off for a week to make sure that the language in there is correct, I don't have any problems with that,” Ruggles said.
“I don't want to come back and amend something. I want to put something forward that is the actual resolution that we're passing.”
Vice Mayor Ken Brown emphasized that most of council agreed with the language in the resolution thus far, and simply wanted them to accommodate new information from Rose.
“We wanted to make sure that it was a clean resolution going forward," Brown said.
"And with the new information coming forth now, I think it's a good idea that if we're going to do it, let's do it clean, let's do it right, and move forward.
"We are in agreement with the councilwoman. We just want to add Mr. Rose's information to it."
City Administrator Luis Campos also said it would be more proper to include Rose’s information in the resolution, which would then be presented to the administration, prior to putting the matter up for a vote.
Shortly thereafter, Sultana suggested that Rose’s additions were presented “on purpose” — to what end was not explained.
Rose responded, “How dare you accuse me?”
'The bare minimum'
Sultana said she felt the matter had been “at the table for many months…. We keep postponing it, and it’s hurting our community.”
“It's about the vulnerable communities that are not being heard in our community,” Sultana said.
“And this is the bare minimum. It's not an ordinance, it's nothing. It's the bare minimum we can do — just pass a resolution.
"It's a statement telling the community we stand with you in solidarity. Simple as that; it's nothing else.”
"Please do not let us down.”Resident Dominic Trabosci
After several moments of numerous council members talking over each other on the subject, council tabled the resolution until Dec. 10, with the intent to vote on it then.
Several members of the public appeared before council during public comment to advocate for the adoption of the resolution, including Dominic Trabosci, who has spoken on the matter before.
“We have a lot of work to do to slow the damage of this destructive federal administration," Trabosci said.
"But the longer we normalize these governmental acts of violence, and the longer we pretend there isn't anything we can do, the quicker our downfall will be.
“We ask you tonight to join us, because there will always be more of us than there are of them.
"I'm asking you, council, to vote yes on a resolution tonight that denounces illegal ICE activity in all its forms — the aversion of due process, the utilization of city services to assist in ICE raids, and the collection or recording of immigration statuses of Eastonians.
"Please do not let us down.”
