Speech #1140056134

Mr. President. I rise today in support of an important piece of legislation that I have introduced that would bring an end to the dangerous existence of sanctuary citiesthe Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 included language that specifically prohibits State and local governments from enacting sanctuary policies. Despite this. cities continually violate that provision by having sanctuary policies in place. If these cities and localities want to continue to blatantly disregard Federal law. they should no longer receive certain Federal funds. Now. the sanctuary policies that we are talking about fall into two categories: one. ordinances that bar city employees from asking about a persons immigration status under any circumstances. and two. policies that prevent them from reporting a suspected illegal alien to Federal immigration law enforcement authorities. These sanctuary policies and sanctuary cities that enact them are dangerous and counterproductive to both law enforcement efforts and reducing illegal immigration. We know there are many instances in which an illegal alien is released by local authorities and then commits a very serious crimesometimes a murder or a fatal crime. By now we all know of the tragic event that renewed our focus on this issue back in Julythe murder of a 32yearold woman named Kate Steinle in San Francisco. Kates suspected murderer was an illegal immigrant who had been deported 5 times previously and was released this past April by local law enforcement. specifically citing San Franciscos sanctuary city laws. defying a request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to hold him for deportation proceedings. If this illegal immigrant had been held for deportation proceedings instead of being set free. Kate Steinle would be alive todayperiod. end of story. Unfortunately. San Francisco is far from the only city in the country carrying out this dangerous policy. and Kate Steinle is far from being the only victim of a serious crime committed by an illegal immigrant under these sorts of circumstances. On July 24. 2015. Marilyn Pharis was brutally raped. tortured. and murdered in her home in Santa Maria. CA. by an illegal immigrant who was released from custody because the county sheriff does not honor detainment. Again. this is a clear instance that would be stopped but for sanctuary policies. On July 27. 2015. an illegal immigrant was arrested and accused of killing 60yearold Margaret Kostelnik in Ravenna Road. OH. Before murdering Ms. Kostelnik. the man allegedly attempted to rape a 14yearold girl and shoot a woman in a nearby park. The suspect also was previously in the custody of law enforcement but was released because the Department of Homeland Security refused to issue a detainer and take custody of the suspecta related problem. On July 30. a 2yearold girl was brutally beaten by an illegal immigrant in San Luis Obispo County. CA. He was released from local custody despite a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer and extensive criminal history. Other cases include last year. when a Virginia man who killed a Catholic nun in a drunkdriving crash was revealed to be an illegal alien who had been previously arrested. An illegal alien committed a shocking executionstyle murder of three college students in the sanctuary city of Newark. NJ. several years ago. He had been arrested twice before this grizzly crime. In the aftermath of the murders. the attorney general of New Jersey effectively eliminated Newarks sanctuary city policy. Now. according to documents uncovered by a Freedom of Information Act request by the Center for Immigration Studies. ICE lists at least 340 cities defying Federal law. providing safe haven to illegal immigrants. including my original hometown of New Orleans. These policies. again. are a direct infringement of Federal law. and it is simply unacceptable. Worse still. these cities are actively releasing criminal illegal immigrants back into our communities instead of working cooperatively with Federal officials to deport them or lock them up. I firmly believe it is time to reverse these illegal policies. to bar them once and for good. That is why I have joined on this crucial piece of legislation with Senators TOOMEY.