Thread: House to take up bill blocking money for 'sanctuary cities'

Jul 20, 8:58 PM (ET)

By ERICA WERNER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will take up a bill this week blocking funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" that resist turning over immigrants to federal authorities.

The move follows the shooting death of a woman in San Francisco this month, allegedly by an immigrant with a criminal record and without legal status.

San Francisco authorities had released the man despite a request from federal officials to keep him in custody.

That was in line with a practice by San Francisco and other jurisdictions that have begun refusing to cooperate with federal immigration orders amid concerns over their legality and their impact on immigrant communities.

The bill by Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter of California would block certain federal grants to cities that don't honor federal immigration requests.

A similar proposal has been advanced in the Senate, but it's unclear how far it will go.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities on Monday sent a letter to lawmakers protesting any such legislation. "We believe that decisions related to how law enforcement agencies prioritize their resources, direct their workforce and define the duties of their employees must reside with local government leadership," the letter reads. "This includes defining the role of local police officers in the context of enforcing federal immigration laws."

Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday will hear from Jim Steinle, father of Kathryn Steinle, the 32-year-old woman who was shot in San Francisco. Steinle was walking with his daughter along a popular pier in daylight when the shooting happened.

The Archbishop of San Francisco sent a letter Monday urging the committee to "avoid the implementation of policies that punish all immigrants for the transgressions of a small minority."

"I applaud the commitment to public safety of the City of San Francisco and other local jurisdictions and support their right to exercise reasonable and appropriate discretion in the handling of immigrant detainees," Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone wrote. "A just and humanitarian policy should not be abandoned because of flaws in the system."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/2015...fa474a2f6.html

The Archbishop of San Francisco sent a letter Monday urging the committee to "avoid the implementation of policies that punish all immigrants for the transgressions of a small minority."

This is about illegal immigrants, not immigrants. Actually this doesn't punish anyone that follows the law. Furthermore, how can any individual of faith say that illegal immigrant criminals that prey on law abiding citizens shouldn't be held accountable for their actions?

Originally Posted by MW

This is about illegal immigrants, not immigrants. Actually this doesn't punish anyone that follows the law. Furthermore, how can any individual of faith say that illegal immigrant criminals that prey on law abiding citizens shouldn't be held accountable for their actions?

I agree MW, with you so much that my blood is running hot. Why would a letter from the Archbishop be pertinent in a nation whose Constitution demands a separation of church and state. Why would the Congress of that nation receive the Pope of the same religion. I am as disturbed over this as if I had caught the minister's son playing house with my wife! Oh, wait a minute, that occurred once, too. Mixing religion and politics was another republican fiasco.

by Caroline May
21 Jul 2015

The House is slated to consider legislation targeting sanctuary cities.

House leaders have scheduled a vote on the “Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act” this week, according to reports.

The bill, offered by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), would block federal law enforcement grants for jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

“States and cities that refuse to enforce federal immigration laws directly undermine enforcement efforts and — as recent events have shown — present a real danger to citizens,” Hunter said in a statement to Breitbart News shortly before he introduced the bill. “If a state or one of its cities wants to call itself a sanctuary and deliberately ignore the law, then Congress shouldn’t hesitate to withhold federal funding until there’s compliance.”

The Obama administration has pushed back against attempts to force cities to comply with immigration law.

The bill comes in the wake of the murder of Kathryn Steinle, allegedly by a five-time deportee, multiple-felon, illegal immigrant after he was released due to San Francisco’s sanctuary city policies. Steinle was shot at a San Francisco pier this month.

Steinle’s father, Jim Steinle, testified Tuesday before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...ary-city-bill/

The Davis-Oliver bill by Sen. Sessions (Steve King has one similar in the House) is much stronger and effective than the Hunter bill. Hunter's bill is to provide window dressing for the "See we did something." crowd's cover. Boehner I believe backs this one, so no more needs to be said.

Duncan Hunter tried to get his bill to be taken up for six years. He is one of the few Republicans representing California that is not a Rhino.

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

The Davis-Oliver bill by Sen. Sessions (Steve King has one similar in the House) is much stronger and effective than the Hunter bill. Hunter's bill is to provide window dressing for the "See we did something." crowd's cover. Boehner I believe backs this one, so no more needs to be said.

Have you read both bills? Just asking .......

Personally, I haven't read either bill.

Originally Posted by MW

Have you read both bills? Just asking .......

Personally, I haven't read either bill.

MW, I am making my decision based upon an op-ed by Roy Beck, NumbersUSA. As a matter of fact they have a push going to defeat the Hunter bill. Roy pretty much laid out the differences well.

NUMBERSUSA TO OPPOSE SANCTUARY CITIES BILL, H.R.3009


UPDATED:

Tue, JUL 21st 2015 @ 6:37 pm EDT

The House Rules Committee has scheduled a hearing for Rep. Duncan Hunter's (R-Calif.) sanctuary cities bill, H.R.3009, for Wednesday afternoon. NumbersUSA has sent a notice to all House Members, telling them that we will oppose the Hunter legislation.

Here's what was sent to House offices.

While we appreciate the intent behind the Hunter sanctuary bill (H.R. 3009), NumbersUSA has no choice but to oppose it. The Hunter language is actually weaker than the language that the House adopted--by a vote of 227-198--as an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Act, offered by Rep. Steve King. It is unconscionable that the House would respond to the tragic murder of Kate Steinle by moving legislation that is weaker than the language it adopted less than two months ago to defund sanctuary jurisdictions.

The bigger problem, however, is that the Hunter bill does not in any way address the largest sanctuary jurisdiction of all: the Federal government. Sanctuary states, cities, and counties release thousands of convicted criminal aliens each year, but the Department of Homeland Security releases tens of thousands of convicted criminal aliens each year. Grant Ronnebeck, murdered by a convicted criminal alien in an Arizona convenience store, is no less a victim of sanctuary policies than Kate Steinle just because his killer was released by the Department of Homeland Security.

NumbersUSA completely agrees that Congress needs to act now to stop sanctuary policies, but it needs to address all of them.

Releasing convicted criminal aliens into our communities is dangerous and wrong, regardless of which government entity is doing the releasing.

https://www.numbersusa.com/news/numb...es-bill-hr3009

Thank you, JohnDoe2!~