House passes bill to punish sanctuary cities in wake of Steinle killing
House Republicans
, moving swiftly after the July 1 murder of a San Francisco woman attributed to that city’s sanctuary policy, approved a bill Thursday to strip federal grants from jurisdictions that shield illegal immigrants from arrest by federal immigration authorities.
, moving swiftly after the July 1 murder of a San Francisco woman attributed to that city’s sanctuary policy, approved a bill Thursday to strip federal grants from jurisdictions that shield illegal immigrants from arrest by federal immigration authorities.
Democrats
derided the measure as the “Donald Trump Act,” accusing the GOP of
being led by the brash presidential hopeful who has drawn attention to illegal immigration with his controversial comments. The White House vowed to veto the legislation should it survive the Senate and reach his desk.
with his controversial comments. The White House vowed to veto the legislation should it survive the Senate and reach his desk.
But Republicans brushed aside the threats and attacks and powered their bill through on a 241-179 vote, which broke almost entirely along party lines.
, which broke almost entirely along party lines.
“If you can’t honor our detainers, you’re not going to get any more money,” said Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican.
The
vote underscored the complicated politics of immigration, and the murky
situation of immigration law, as both parties sparred over who was to
blame for the San Francisco murder, and whether the bill would have had any effect in trying to stop such killings.
Just hours before the vote Jim Steinle,
the father of the 32-year woman whose murder ignited the debate,
pleaded with Congress to approve legislation curbing sanctuary cities
and imposing mandatory penalties on illegal immigrants who have been
kicked out of the country and yet sneak back in.
“Our intent with ‘Kate’s Law’ is to get rid of or do something with violent felons,” he said.
The man accused of killing Steinle,
Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, had been deported five times before and
was still being sought by Ms. Saldana’s ICE agents — but the federal
Bureau of Prisons had shipped him to San Francisco instead on a decades-old drug warrant.
San Francisco authorities
decided not to pursue the drug case, but rather than turn Sanchez over
to ICE, which had put a detainer request on him, the county sheriff’s
department released Sanchez as per its sanctuary policy. Under that
policy, the sheriff won’t even inform ICE when an illegal immigrant is
about to be released, shielding them from being picked up by agents.
The
sheriff’s department that released Sanchez has since come under fire,
with a county supervisor urging him to drop his sanctuary policy and
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a former mayor of the city, asking that it be
changed.
House Democrats,
though, defended the policy, saying sanctuary cities are trying to
restore trust with immigrant communities, making them comfortable enough
to report other crimes, which gets other criminals off the streets.
,
though, defended the policy, saying sanctuary cities are trying to
restore trust with immigrant communities, making them comfortable enough
to report other crimes, which gets other criminals off the streets.
Rep.
Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, said the Steinle killing was a
tragedy that stemmed more from lack of communication. She and House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have
fired a letter off to federal immigration and prison officials urging
them to communicate and use discretion in the future to override a local
community’s requests if they think it makes more sense to keep someone
in federal custody for deportation.
have
fired a letter off to federal immigration and prison officials urging
them to communicate and use discretion in the future to override a local
community’s requests if they think it makes more sense to keep someone
in federal custody for deportation.
“It has been said that this bill is a response to the tragic murder of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco, just up the road from my district. However, nothing in this bill would have prevented that outrageous murder of Ms. Steinle,” Ms. Lofgren said.
The White House also
rose to the defense of sanctuary cities, vowing to veto any bill to
punish them and saying the solution is to pass legislation instead that
legalizes most illegal immigrants.
“This
bill fails to offer comprehensive reforms needed to fix the nation’s
broken immigration laws, undermines current administration efforts to
remove the most dangerous convicted criminals and to work
collaboratively with state and local law enforcement agencies, and
threatens the civil rights of all Americans by authorizing state and
local officials to collect information regarding any private citizen’s
immigration status, at any time, for any reason, and without
justification,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said.
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