House votes to punish illegal immigrant sanctuary cities

The U.S. House of Representative passed a bill yesterday that would deny federal funds to sanctuary cities, those cities who refuse to arrest illegals or assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in doing so. 

Sanctuary cities have come under intense scrutiny since the murder of Kathryn Steinle by an illegal immigrant in San Francisco July 1.   This incident, highly publicized by presidential candidate Donald Trump in his recent campaign statements, was allegedly perpretrated by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez who has a history of felonies and who has been deported five times.

The White House is defending sanctuary cities and is threatening to veto the measure if it passes the Senate.  The White House says  “undermines current administration efforts to remove the most dangerous convicted criminals” and fails to enact comprehensive immigration reforms. 

Former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint commented “Millions of Americans are angry about this … Americans don’t understand why we don’t protect our border. Why cities like San Francisco ignore our federal laws and allow convicted felons who are illegal to stay and live in those cities and continue to commit crimes.”

According to Wikipedia the term sanctuary city is given to cities in the United States or Canada that have policies designed to shelter illegal immigrants. These practices can be by law (de jure) or they can be by habit (de facto). The term generally applies to cities that do not allow municipal funds or resources to be used to enforce federal immigration laws, usually by not allowing police or municipal employees to inquire about an individual’s immigration status. 

Some sanctuary cities include San Fransciso, Los Angelse, Chicago, Miami, Austin, Dallas, and hundreds of others.  A list can be found here.

Author Comment:   The threat to veto makes know sense with respect to the reasons given.  The reality is a much larger political picture having much more to do with getting Democrats elected than with public safety or enforcement of federal laws.   Jim DeMint is absolutely correct, and as this becomes a bigger issue during the Republican presidential primary, it will make more Americans aware of how screwed up the situation is.