Make America Safe Again: Abolish Sanctuary Cities

A showdown looms between the City of Chicago and the United States Department of Justice.  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has indicated that he will file a lawsuit against the Justice Department for threatening to withhold federal funds from the Windy City and other sanctuary cities if they do not abandon their sanctuary city policies.  In the past, the city has used the federal funds, provided by the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, to purchase law enforcement equipment.  The Trump Administration has made cracking down on sanctuary cities a top priority.  Miami is the only notable large city that has abolished its sanctuary policy in the wake of threats from the Trump DOJ to defund them.  All others remain defiant.  You can check out this list of all the sanctuary cities and counties across the nation, compiled by the Center for Immigration Studies.         

  

Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, responded to Emanuel’s actions by saying “In 2016, more Chicagoans were murdered than in New York City and Los Angeles combined. So it’s especially tragic that the mayor is less concerned with that staggering figure than he is spending time and taxpayer money protecting criminal aliens and putting Chicago’s law enforcement at greater risk.”  Emanuel says that “Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and will remain a welcoming city.  The City of Chicago will continue to stand up to President Trump and his Justice Department to ensure that their misguided policies do not threaten the safety of our residents.”  The beleaguer mayor might want to consider the possibility that his misguided policies threaten the safety of his city’s residents.  That seems unlikely to happen, as Emanuel’s politically correct worldview dictates that Chick-fil-a’s views on marriage present more of a threat to western society than a never-ending flow of illegal immigrants.     

  

Sanctuary cities might look like a good idea on paper, but have disastrous results when put into practice.  Just ask the family of Kate Steinle.  Kate’s murderer had been deported multiple times but returned to the ultra-liberal sanctuary city of San Francisco, where he shot and killed the innocent 32-year old for no apparent reason two years ago. In response to this tragedy, former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly called for the creation of “Kate’s Law”, which would guarantee jail sentences for illegal immigrants who re-enter the country after being deported.  “Kate’s Law” passed the House earlier this year; it now awaits a vote in the Senate.  President Trump will certainly sign the bill into law should it make it to his desk. 

 

Two years after Steinle’s untimely death, liberals have still failed to learn the lesson.  In Portland, Oregon, an illegal immigrant sexually assaulted a 65-year old woman.  Her attacker had been deported 20 times.  The City of Portland failed to comply with ICE’s detainer asking the local authorities to notify them of his release.  Mike Reese, the Multnomah County Sheriff, explained the county’s sanctuary policy, saying “The Sherriff’s Office does not hold people in county jails on ICE detainers or conduct any immigration enforcement actions.”   No matter how many incidents like this occur, liberals never seem interested in rethinking their sanctuary city policies.   

 

On Monday’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, guest host Laura Ingraham highlighted some victims of crimes committed at the hands of illegal immigrants in Chicago, including Denny McCann, who lost his life at the hands of a drunk driver who resided in the country illegally.  Four years after Denny’s death, his brother Brian testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee at a sanctuary city hearing held following Kate Steinle’s murder.  McCann expressed outrage that his brother’s killer had been released from prison thanks to a sanctuary city policy that allowed criminals in felony cases to make bond.  Many believe that Denny McCann’s killer has since returned to his home country of Mexico.  The entire ordeal is described further in the book Death in Chicago: A Sanctuary City.       

 

Mayors and supporters of sanctuary cities often use the federalism argument to justify their policy; arguing that the request from the DOJ to allow Department of Homeland Security officials access to local jails and prisons would “effectively federalize local detention facilities”.  There is a huge double standard when it comes to federalism in the United States.  If liberal cities can defy federal immigration law and marijuana laws, shouldn’t conservative cities have the right to disobey federal laws that they don’t like as well?  Bill O’Reilly wrote a column where he outlined a hypothetical scenario where two religious cities decided to declare themselves “sanctuary cities”, exempting themselves from following federal laws requiring them to issue gay marriage licenses and ignoring laws that prevent them from teaching bible studies in their public schools.  Ann Coulter posted a similar idea on her Twitter account, saying “conservative towns should be sanctuary cities for fetuses and Christian bakeries.  They’re killed/oppressed by court rulings not FED LAW!”  We all know the left’s heads would explode if either of these scenarios actually played out.

 

Those who attend and/or watch President Trump’s rallies have frequently heard the expression “Make America Safe Again.”  In order for that to happen, dangerous people must be kept out of the country.  Sanctuary cities such as Chicago rolling out the welcome mat for illegal immigrants certainly do not help this effort.  Liberal sanctuary city mayors fail to realize that criminal illegal aliens do not just inflict pain on American citizens but on the law-abiding immigrants that they supposedly care so much about.  Liberals will continue to claim that sanctuary cities are safer than non-sanctuary cities but the City of Phoenix proves that this is not the case.  Phoenix, Arizona’s capital and largest city saw a drop in its crime rate after it abandoned its sanctuary city policy in 2008.  Yet, liberals remain stubborn; convinced that their policies benefit their communities.  For years, both Democratic and Republican Presidents have allowed sanctuary cities to ignore Federal law with impunity.  Sanctuary cities had better come to terms with the fact that there is a new sheriff in town; committed to making America safe again. In other words, the party’s over.  Follow Federal immigration law or say goodbye to your Federal funds.