When conservatives raise states’ rights, federalism or the separation of powers, Democrats typically cry foul and denounce it as code for racist and otherwise discriminatory policies. But when it suits them, Democrats discover an appreciation for those concepts. On immigration, Democrats have championed the idea that cities may defy Congress, even when it means innocent people get killed.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory last week, several Democratic mayors announced that they’ll defy federal law and harbor criminal illegal immigrants in their cities. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, Chicago will “always be a sanctuary city.” (Sanctuary from what, one wonders, while pondering Chicago’s appalling murder rate).
Some universities are also facing pressure from students and faculty to become “sanctuary campuses” for illegal immigrants in the wake of Trump’s victory.
Trump has pledged to end the recalcitrance of some 300 cities, towns and other areas that refuse to hand over illegal immigrants who have committed crimes to the feds. He’s threatened to cancel federal funding for those places within his first 100 days in office. This is as it should be. He who pays the piper calls the tune. The cities cannot claim complete independence and then object if the president ends their financial dependence.
Trump has also vowed to stop the grant of American visas to travelers from countries that refuse to take back their citizens who commit crimes here. Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, is a leading opponent of sanctuary cities.
According to a 2015 report by the Center for Immigration Studies, more than 2,000 immigrants released under sanctuary city policies have gone on to commit crimes. Another study found that between January 2014 and October 2015, more than 17,000 federal requests for detainment were rejected by sanctuary cities, more than two-thirds of which were for illegal immigrants with criminal records.
Trump’s election came just after the Justice Department, under pressure from Republicans in Congress, warned sanctuary cities that their federal funds would be stanched if they continued their defiance.
During the election campaign, Trump often raised the example of Kate Steinle, who was walking on a pier in San Francisco when she was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet. San Francisco is one of America’s most notorious sanctuary cities. But Steinle was just one example. Between 2010 and 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released 121 criminal illegal immigrants who went on to be charged with homicide.
Government officials who declare their cities sanctuaries for illegal immigrants are promoting nullification; that is, they are granting local governments the right to invalidate federal laws they don’t like. It was the rationale behind Confederate secession and later the segregationist movement of the 1960s. In one case it led to civil war, and in the other to societal disruption the effects of which are still felt today.
Immigration is a vexing issue but there is wide agreement that sanctuary cities need to be brought to heel. A 2015 poll found that 62 percent of voters supported penalizing cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration policies.
We trust Trump will follow through on his promise to stop this widespread municipal abuse quickly after he is sworn in.
