The momentum is building against sanctuary cities.
Just Tuesday night, I posted a blog chiding the 2016 Presidential Hopefuls for being too timid in their response to the issues raised by the killing in the sanctuary city of San Francisco.
But we have been pleased to get a lot of new evidence of something of a groundswell toward specifically cutting funding for cities that protect criminal foreign citizens and even support for specific bills introduced in Congress.
The attention of most Presidential Hopefuls to this single subject is creating a national focus that has to help our allies in Congress who are trying to persuade Republican leaders in the House and Senate to allow bills to come to a vote to deal with the problem of criminal aliens.
TED CRUZ is now trying to use a Senate education bill to penalize cities who don't report all undocumented immigrants to federal authorities:
(Cruz) filed an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act that would redirect federal funding from more than 200 sanctuary cities to state governments, according to The Hill. "It doesn't make any sense for our cities to be harboring violent criminals," Cruz told Fox News on Thursday, "and it doesn't make sense for the federal government to be releasing violent criminals."
RAND PAUL's office released this yesterday:
Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul introduced legislation that would prevent "sanctuary cities" from harboring violent and dangerous criminal aliens . . . (The) Protecting American Citizens Together Act (PACT Act) . . . would require state and local law enforcement to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the arrest of an illegal immigrant and detain an illegal immigrant if requested to do so by ICE. . . . Under this legislation, localities will be required to follow the new requirements as a condition of receiving federal law enforcement grants.
MIKE HUCKABEE has made cutting the funding one of the points of his six-point immigration plan on his campaign website where he states:
The horrible policies that have created sanctuary cities are a symptom of President Obama's broader policy decision to ignore existing laws and issue radical unconstitutional executive orders that provide amnesty to the most dangerous illegal aliens. . . . What most people don't realize is that existing laws provide more than enough leeway for the Executive branch to get the illegal immigration crisis under control. As your president, I'll use my pen and my phone to follow the Constitution by (1) Ending Obama's Catch and Release policy. This would increase arrests, detentions and deportations of illegal aliens, particularly those who have joined gangs and committed serious crimes against Americans. (2) Using all powers of the presidency to deny federal funding to sanctuary cities and work with Congress to do the same."
JEB BUSH endorsed the move to withhold money::
Talking about things the federal government can do, we shouldn't provide law enforcement monies for cities like San Francisco until they change their policies."
This news item on RICK PERRY reminded that he has a history of weighing in on this issue:
Days after an undocumented laborer was charged with the murder of a San Francisco woman, former Gov. Rick Perry called for federal funding to be pulled from so-called "sanctuary cities" -- the common term for local governments that don't enforce federal immigration laws. Perry's proposal, released via email on Thursday, includes making sanctuary cities ineligible for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, a U.S. Justice Department program that awards millions of dollars to local governments to ease the cost of jailing undocumented immigrants.
This is not Perry's first attack on sanctuary cities. The former governor added eliminating the local policy to his list of emergency items during the 81st Legislature in 2011. He also called a special session the following summer and added the measure to the agenda. Specifically, the legislation Perry sought would have denied state funds to entities that ban certain law enforcement agencies from inquiring about the immigration status of any person who was legally detained or arrested.
Perry's measure didn't pass because the leadership of the Texas legislature has long been controlled by politicians determined to make sure their business donors continue to have a steady supply of cheap illegal foreign labor. We have previously labeled Perry's positions on Interior Enforcement as "Mixed" because of his support for in-state tuition for illegal alien students while strongly opposing drivers licenses for illegal aliens. We had failed to notice his earlier leadership against sanctuary cities in his state. With his new display of a firm grasp of the policy solutions on the issue engaging the country at this moment, we moved his Rating on Interior Enforcement to GOOD.
Sadly, none of the Democratic Hopefuls has indicated an interest in curbing the practice of some cities of protecting criminal aliens.
The campaign office of HILLARY CLINTON indicated the opposite:
Hillary Clinton believes that sanctuary cities can help further public safety, and she has defended those policies going back years," said Xochitl Hinojosa, a campaign spokeswoman, in a statement made public Thursday. "As she made clear, this particular individual should not have been on the streets...She believes that we need a system where people like this don't fall through the cracks and that is why she continues to fight for comprehensive immigration reform."
ROY BECK is Founder & President of NumbersUSA
