<p>Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita is working on legislation that would punish elected officials who are found to be sheltering illegal immigrants from deportation. ;</p>
<p>The bill follows the &ldquo;not guilty&rdquo; verdict of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, the illegal immigrant who shot and killed Kate Steinle in San Francisco in 2015. ;</p>
<p>Zarate&rsquo;s defense team argued that he picked up a stolen gun and the weapon &ldquo;just fired.&rdquo; The bullet allegedly bounced off the ground before striking Steinle. ; ;</p>
<p>Rokita and others have blamed Steinle&rsquo;s death on the sanctuary policies that allowed Zarate to walk free despite a request for his deportation. Zarate has multiple felony convictions and is currently being held in advance of his fifth deportation from the US. ;</p>
<p>President Trump called the verdict a &ldquo;complete travesty of justice,&rdquo; and AG Jeff Sessions has blamed San Francisco&rsquo;s &ldquo;decision to protect criminal aliens&rdquo; for the &ldquo;preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Politicians don&rsquo;t get to pick and choose what laws to comply with,&rdquo; argues Rokita. &ldquo;Americans are dying because politicians sworn to uphold the law refuse to do so.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Rokita&rsquo;s <em>Stopping Lawless Actions of Politicians (SLAP) Act</em> would hold lawmakers accountable for their refusal to comply with federal immigration law. Violators would be subject to fines of up to $1 million and five years in jail. ;</p>
<p>SLAP is one of the most aggressive pieces of legislation to date aimed at sanctuary cities, going far beyond the Trump Administration&rsquo;s threat to cut off federal funding to those cities. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s time the federal government gets serious about enforcing immigration laws and holding politicians accountable who conspire to break them,&rdquo; says Rokita. ; ;</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The introduction of the bill may coincide with the recent decision to withdraw from UN negotiations on forming a Global Compact on Migration. Washington has justified the withdrawal by citing America&rsquo;s sovereign right to secure its borders. ;</p>