A prominent Sheriff from Massachusetts on Tuesday called for leaders of sanctuary cities to be arrested for failing to uphold federal law and endangering American citizens.
Testifying before Congress, Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson said that if “sanctuary cities are going to harbor and conceal criminal illegal aliens from ICE, which is in direct violation of Title 8 of the U.S. Code, federal arrest warrants should be issued for their elected officials.”
“Our citizens would be safer if we never stopped enforcing immigration law and if we never formed or turned a blind eye toward sanctuary cities,” he continued.
Some legal experts disagree, with one telling Breitbart News that it is not a crime for local leaders to disclose such information if they become aware of it, so those leaders cannot be arrested for undermining federal law enforcement under these circumstances.
Hodgson also criticized Rep. Michelle DuBois (D-Brockton), who earlier this week warned illegals of a planned ICE raid in her constituency.
“I have a message for the immigrant community of Brockton. Please be careful on Wednesday 29. ICE will be in Brockton on that day. If you are undocumented don’t go out on the street. If there is a knock on the door of your house and you don’t know who it is, don’t open the door. I ask you to be careful,” DuBois wrote in a Facebook post.
Hodgson described DuBois’s action as the “most outrageous, outrageous example of what is going on across the United States that is undermining my job and every other law enforcement officer in the United States.”
The outspoken sheriff has previously suggested inmates at his local prison be used to help construct Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, while also signing up for an ICE screening group to help detect inmates who have entered America illegally.
Hodgson’s comments follow threats from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that sanctuary cities could risk losing billions of dollars in federal funding if they continue to protect the status of illegal aliens.
Last week, in an attempt to increase pressure on sanctuary cities, the Department of Homeland Security published its first weekly list of all 118 localities refusing to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, including the crimes committed by illegals within them.
A recent poll found that only 35 percent of Americans wish to live in sanctuary cities, while 52 percent do not.
You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com
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