Sanctuary City Reform, for Starters

Donald Trump has kick-started a national debate on our illegal immigration problem.  The question is, now what?

It’s been brewing for years and was poised to burst at any moment.  However, this new hysteria on cable television is nothing new for Americans who live in border states and states that house sanctuary cities.  Americans want common sense answers and solutions from their leaders in the federal government.   It’s high time they delivered.

Sanctuary cities are back in the news once again following the tragic murder of Kathryn Steinle by an illegal immigrant who was protected by sanctuary policies in San Francisco.   Sanctuary cities started gaining traction as early as the 1980s.  Currently, there are a whopping 276 sanctuary cities in the United States.  If that hasn’t gotten your attention, those sanctuary cities released thousands of illegal immigrants all over the country last year, many of whom had criminal records.  Coming from author Jessica M. Vaughan, director of Studies at The Center for Immigration Studies, “many of those illegals have been rearrested after their release and charged with nearly 7,500 new charges, including child sex abuse.”  Make no mistake about it, the Obama Administration is essentially aiding and abetting this behavior.

Sanctuary cities are a magnet for illegal immigration.  It’s an incentive to cross the border illegally and run straight to a city that doesn’t enforce immigration laws.  That gives illegal immigrants time to blend in without fear of deportation, collect taxpayer funded benefits, and, often, commit crimes.  I was pleased to see the House Appropriations Committee finally take some action by voting to strip sanctuary cities of some federal grant money.

But much more must be done.  With strong Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress, it’s time to act on illegal immigration.  Now that there’s a rigorous debate on this issue going on across the nation, why shouldn’t there be a robust debate in Congress as well?  Republicans have a chance to demonstrate that they’re not tone deaf to what’s going on at the border and in so many sanctuary cities.  Maybe they can prevent the next Kathryn Steinle tragedy by acting, instead of reacting.

Conservative Americans have been advocating for border security and a wall at the border for a decade.  By simply acknowledging the enormity of the problem, Donald Trump is leading in the polls.  The swift response from the establishment against the Trump surge sounds a lot of like a group of elitists in Washington, D.C. who either don’t think there’s an illegal immigration problem or don’t have the courage to confront the problem.

If Trump can continue to hone his message about how outrageous our illegal immigration problem is, and his lead in the polls hardens, it just might force Congress to finally move some meaningful legislation.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  Let’s see what happens if President Obama vetoes a border security and sanctuary city reform bill in the wake of the Kathryn Steinle tragedy.  Call your Representatives and Senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them it’s time to act.