States are cracking down on ‘sanctuary cities’. News Source

The protections vary across the US, but they generally bar local law enforcement from asking federal authorities the immigration status of criminal suspects, allowing those localities to sidestep ICE demands. City officials did not notify immigration officials when they released Lopez-Sanchez, even though he was in the country illegally, because of San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy.

States around the country are on the verge of passing laws to crack down on “sanctuary cities” that protect undocumented immigrants from being deported.

Senate Republicans will push for legislation that would cut federal funding to sanctuary cities – areas that do not prosecute illegal immigrants. “The federal government is not doing its job, so it’s our problem”, Cleveland said, according to USA Today.

“Cities that actively work to shield illegal immigrants, especially those with a criminal record or those charged with a crime, do themselves no favors and only hurt their communities”, he said.

Mr. Toomey said it’s “outrageous” for cities to forbid their officers from cooperating with federal immigration officials.

The majority of those shielded from ICE had prior felony charges or convictions, including rape, battery, and drug violations, the analysis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data from January to September 2014 found.

State Rep. George Cleveland, a Republican who is the main force behind the bill, told USA Today that his measure finally got support after the death of a San Francisco woman, Kathryn Steinle, at the hands of an undocumented man who was freed from jail and not transferred into the custody of immigration officials.

Next week, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on an important bill that’s created to help make our communities safer. North Carolina, Michigan and Texas are among the states working on passing laws that take aim at sanctuary cities. “That’s the law. And those, like the murderer of Kate Steinle, who’ve been deported previously due to their criminal acts, they should never be allowed back into our country”, the senator explained.

Sanctuary cities undermine all of that.

He says the Steinle murder converted many Texas lawmakers who were once opposed to targeting sanctuary cities.

Sen. Pat Toomey advocates for the Stop Sanctuary Policies Act in his GOP address.

“Under this common sense legislation, sanctuary cities that refuse to follow the law will lose certain federal funds if they maintain these harmful policies, and repeat illegal border crossers and violent felons will face stiffer sentences”, said Toomey. “We have to take this step in order to get these cities to do the right thing and stop undermining our immigration laws”.

This should be a bipartisan effort.

“The Senate will vote on this legislation Tuesday”, he continued.

“President Obama’s own Secretary of Homeland Security has declared that sanctuary cities are, quote, “not acceptable” and “counter-productive” to public safety”, Toomey said. Thank you for listening.