CNN’s Begala: Cities ‘Should Be Obligated to Help Enforce’ Immigration Law

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” CNN Political Commentator Paul Begala said that “we should have one federal immigration law, and cities should be obligated to help enforce it.”

Host Jake Tapper said, “Minneapolis is a sanctuary city. Minnesota’s not a sanctuary state, but Minneapolis is a sanctuary city. They do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement as a matter of policy, so that won’t happen. I’m sure we all, three reasonable folks here at the table, would agree that there should be a partnership.”

Begala responded, “[Y]ears ago, when Democratic cities started saying this, I criticized that, probably on your show. And I heard from some of these mayors, they make a good point. I still think that we should have one federal immigration law, and cities should be obligated to help enforce it. I do. So, I haven’t changed my position on that. But the mayors make a good point, which is, the heart of policing in a city or anywhere, is community policing. And if you — they believe — if you seem to be on the side of ICE, you will lose the support of your community. The truth is, the community will tell you who the bad guys are. The immigrants will tell you. They’d say, hey, Sam over there beats his wife, why don’t you haul him and send him back to Venezuela, right? So I do think we need to lower the temperature. Mr. Trump seems uninterested in doing that. Gov. Walz, God bless him, is calling on people to calm down. The mayor of Minneapolis, heartbroken as he is, is trying to calm things down. Donald Trump and his folks are ratcheting up.”

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