He has been at it 18
years. Others have been at this a long time, too. So many of us are grateful today that the sanctuary cities language
has passed and that Sarah's Law, Kate's Law, all of that that I was
able to introduce into this Congress has passed out of the House of
Representatives and messaged to the Senate. And I hope the Senate picks
it up. The sanctuary cities language does this:
It bans their policies, for starters, Mr. Speaker. It blocks the Department of Justice grants to the sanctuary cities
that defy Federal law and refuse to cooperate with Federal law
enforcement on immigration. And those grants would be generally grants
that have to do with law enforcement that would be effected by DOJ. It allows the Department of Homeland Security to refuse warrants from
the sanctuary cities. The sanctuary cities might serve a warrant to
someone in custody, and DHS can say: We are not going to hand this
person over to you because we are pretty confident you are just going
to turn them loose on the streets. So that piece in there is a protection that keeps some from being
released. And then it requires ICE to take custody of these criminal aliens
within 48 hours of the notice that comes from the State or local
government that would have them picked up. It also establishes a good faith provision that holds local
government harmless for honoring ICE detainers. Now, that is something that was undermined on February 25 of 2015 by
then-Acting Director of ICE, Dan Ragsdale, who sent a letter out that
just simply advised local law enforcement that an ICE detainer is a
suggestion, not an order. Well, the law and the rule says that it is an order, not a
suggestion. This statute clarifies it and firms it up with respect to
detainers. And then if a local jurisdiction is sued by, say, the ACLU, as they
are wont to do, it gives them a protection, and it lets the Department
of Justice and the Federal Government substitute itself for local
government, and it holds local government harmless when it comes to the
case of ICE detainers. Here is a very powerful piece, Mr. Speaker, and it is this: the
sanctuary cities legislation passed today, H.R. 3003, provides a cause
of action against any jurisdiction that releases an alien who
subsequently commits a felony. Now, that is a powerful provision, and it is something that moves me
in my heart. As a former crime victim, it occurred to me when they
announced the name of the case that I wasn't involved in that equation
at all even though it nearly destroyed my business, and I began to
think about how this is.
Keywords matched
immigration ICE detain sanctuary cities