It seems that Trump’s controversial words regarding illegal immigrants and crime have sparked others into action. Rep. Duncan Hunter from CA hopes to castigate sanctuary cities by cutting federal funding. Fellow Rep. Matt Salmon from AZ has a bill in the works that would lock up individuals who try to return to the US after deportation.
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly asked Rep. Duncan Hunter what he would do to address the issue of sanctuary cities, places like San Francisco that act as “safe havens” for illegal immigrants – even those with criminal records.
Hunter replied that he would cut federal funding and mentioned that the state of California “got $40 million last year to take care of these illegal criminals.”
“That’s one of the few things we can do here,” he continued. “ We can create law, but we can withhold funding. So let’s start withholding federal funding and hopefully you’ll see these cities start to realize that they need that federal transportation funding, that they need that federal education funding…”
There are currently more than 200 sanctuary cities in the US that offer illegal criminals a safe place to stay without fear of imprisonment. These cities ignore laws that authorize ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to deport illegal immigrants without proof of criminal acts or convictions.
Despite the lack of confidence the public currently holds for Congress, Hunter thinks the probability of passing a bill to eliminate funding to these cities is relatively high. “If the American people are interested in this and they know about it that’s going to help us do our job,” he says.
And the people are interested, especially considering the recent murder of Kathryn Steinle, a 32-year-old woman who was shot and killed while walking along the waterfront in San Francisco.
The suspect, Francisco Sanchez, is a seven-time felon and illegal immigrant from Mexico who has re-entered the country five times after deportation.
Unfortunately Kathryn’s tragic story is not a rare occurrence. Between 2010 and 2014, 122 murders were committed by illegal immigrants released from custody and allowed to prowl the streets. Kathryn would be alive today if not for the Obama Administration’s immigration policies that are a direct antithesis to public safety.
Rep. Matt Salmon from Arizona is trying to keep immigrants who have been deported from re-entering the country with a bill that would lock them up for five years or more. He wants to name the bill after Kathryn.
“You have got to deport them,” says Salmon. “Then if they do come back – then Kate’s law would kick in, and they do a five-year minimum.”
“We have to craft this language so tight, that there is no wiggle room for the Obama administration,” Salmon added. He believes there is a good chance his bill will go through.