PHILADELPHIA – Mayor Kenney released the following statement on the recent remarks White House Chief of Staff John Kelly made about immigrants:

“John Kelly’s reported comments are offensive on several levels.  First and foremost, it is mind-boggling in 2018 to see a public official making sweeping generalizations about large groups of people based on their race or nation of origin.  People are individuals, and it is wholly wrong to characterize their ability to assimilate and integrate into society, or to overcome challenges of any sort, as if they are all one and the same.

“Kelly implies that immigrants from Latin America are inherently inferior both intellectually and in their ability to assimilate and integrate.  If this is not the very definition of racism, I don’t know what is.  I do know that this is the same mindset that greeted General Kelly’s Irish ancestors when they arrived at U.S. shores, which makes the irony of his comments boundless and all the more abhorrent.

“He claims to sympathize with immigrants yet at the same time questions their motives. Here in Philadelphia instead of questioning the motives of those often escaping horrendous situations in their native countries, we welcome people from many nations to pursue their dreams. Immigrants in Philadelphia earn PhDs, launch successful businesses, revitalize neighborhoods and are the reason our City has continued to grow over the past decade.  We are proud to be a welcoming City made stronger by our immigrant communities.

“This mindset – and that of the White House as a whole – is divisive and repugnant, and they should be ashamed.”