TULSA, Okla. — Although Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said he generally doesn’t waste his time responding to false rumors, he said it’s time make an exception in a social media post on Monday.
He said falsehoods have started to distract from important progress happening in the City.
Mayor Bynum posted that he was bothered by a jump in thinking that some people are making which raises fears about immigrants.
He talked about it on the KRMG Morning News with Dan Potter.
“A lot of these conspiracy theories that keep popping up around the work that we’re doing at the City and people claiming that it’s there to support illegal immigration, when, I just think that is completely unfair to the immigrants in our community who have done everything the right way,” he said.
In his post, the mayor gave examples of things the City is doing and how they are being misinterpreted.
He said Tulsa was recently recognized as the first “Welcoming City” in Oklahoma.
Bynum said people are mistaking that as Tulsa being recognized as a sanctuary city.
“We at the City of Tulsa, we’re not doing anything to support illegal immigration,” he said. “We’re very strongly supportive of making this the best city in America for immigrants, and part of that is honoring the people that make the sacrifices to go through the system the right way.”
Also, last week the City announced the first business incubator in Oklahoma that will support immigrant entrepreneurs in East Tulsa. Again, the allegations are that Mayor Bynum is declaring Tulsa a sanctuary city which Bynum says is not true.
“To assume that because we do things to help immigrants that we’re somehow supporting illegal immigration, I think is completely unfair to the immigrant community in Tulsa,” he said.
He also gave an example about misinformation concerning Tulsa International Airport. The airport recently broke ground on a new customs processing facility. The claim is that Tulsa is building one of the largest illegal immigrant processing centers in America and they’re going to be held in a camp at 31st & Memorial, according to Bynum.
FOX23 recently reached out to U.S. Senator James Lankford’s office about rumors of a facility at 31st and Memorial and were told there was no such plan in place.
Bynum said the customs facility at the airport must have a U.S. Customs & Border Protection processing facility for passengers.
For more information on Welcoming Cities, click HERE.