Marching in lockstep, Senate Democrats blocked common sense legislation designed to end so-called “sanctuary cities” yesterday.
These local governments defy federal law by refusing to cooperate with federal law enforcement officials when it comes to enforcing immigration law.
The Stop Sanctuary Cities Act became a lightning rod issue ahead of the vote, as GOP sponsors tried to peel off just a few Democrats to support it while Democratic leaders blasted the legislation as counterproductive. The White House issued a formal veto threat Tuesday morning, while the chamber’s top Democrat tried to discredit the measure by calling it “The Donald Trump Act.”
But GOP backers cast the legislation as a critical first step toward reining in the exploding, and risky, practice of cities and counties ignoring federal immigration law.
“Sanctuary cities and the associated violent crimes by illegal immigrants are reaching a critical point, and we cannot wait any longer to take action to protect Americans here at home,” sponsor Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said in a statement.
The bill was considered months after a young woman’s murder in San Francisco allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant touched off a national debate over immigration law.
Vitter had urged colleagues to “remember Kate Steinle’s vicious murder and the tens of thousands of crimes committed by illegal immigrants within our borders.”
The vote was mostly along party line with a couple of notable exceptions:
Only two Democrats voted Tuesday to advance the bill, Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk was the only Republican to vote “no.”
The legislation would have made it illegal for local governments to ignore immigration-related detainers — federal requests to notify them before releasing an illegal immigrant so they can take custody — and to bar local officials from sharing immigration information with federal agents.
The bill called for withholding certain federal funding to any local governments that flout the policy.
The blood from the next American victim of a vicious crime committed by an illegal alien who should have been held and deported is on the hands of these cowardly Senators who voted to leave them on the street.