In a battle destined to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, America’s roughly 300 sanctuary cities continue to plot strategies to avoid losing untold millions in federal funding; all because they continue to serve as safe havens for those residing here in violation of federal immigration laws.
According to Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, those protected include at least 170,000 convicted criminals who have been ordered deported. Yet, while some cities have dropped the sanctuary designation, others have filed suit in defiance of the Trump administration.
Take the case of Kate Steinle. Even before her senseless April 2015 murder in San Francisco (long known for its sanctuary status) by a seven-time convicted felon illegally residing there, other horrific crimes have been committed across the U.S. by those of similar status.
In August 2016, three people were killed and dozens of others injured when an illegal, Denis Rodriguez, crashed a bus full of volunteers on their way to assist victims of historic flooding in LaPlace, Louisiana. Nearby New Orleans is also a sanctuary city that enforces a policy preventing its police from asking about one’s immigration status or sharing it with federal law enforcement agencies.
In another instance, Tommy Alvarado-Ventura, a four-time deported MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, faces a life sentence in Nassau County, New York, after allegedly raping a 2-year-old girl and stabbing her mother as well as another woman.
Then there was the case of two teenage illegals in Maryland, charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in a high school restroom. They were among more than 150,000 unaccompanied minors who entered the U.S. illegally from Central America in the past three years. One of them, 18-year-old Henry Milian, was detained in August 2016 by ICE agents at a border crossing near McAllen, Texas, before being released under the Obama administration’s “catch and release” program. Why? Because he wasn’t a priority case.
Ventura had a prior history of violence, as do many illegals who end up back in trouble. Yet instead of locking them up or turning them over to federal authorities for deportation, sanctuary cities have released them back to the streets so that they can create additional victims. Now this is changing, as the Trump administration steps up efforts to combat the dangerous MS-13 street gang, which counts heavily on illegal immigration to sustain itself.
Not only have sanctuary cities made our neighborhoods and streets unsafe for law-abiding American citizens, but our public schools too; as the incident in Maryland has clearly shown. Few aspects of U.S. society are truly insulated from these far-reaching acts since illegals are free to move from state to state with impunity.
Now the Trump administration is pushing to cut the flow of federal funds to sanctuary cities as a means to deal with the effects of illegal immigrant crime. But amid the controversy, sanctuary city supporters justify their policies by claiming that without such safeguards, illegals are less likely to report crimes for fear of being deported.
Evidence is slim to support this contention as police may confer immunity to witnesses and crime victims.
Sanctuary cities also maintain that they have no responsibility to cooperate with the federal government because immigration is a federal issue; although they gladly accept billions in financial aid from Washington. And according to the Federation For American Immigration Reform, illegal immigration costs state and local governments $84 billion annually (and an additional $30 billion in federal costs). This far outweighs any financial benefits to the U.S., while the human toll created as a result of sanctuary cities is incalculable.
Eighteen-year-old Josh Wilkerson was beaten and burned to death in 2010 by an illegal immigrant classmate in the sanctuary city of Houston, Texas. During a nationally televised CNN town hall in February, Wilkerson’s mother confronted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a notorious supporter of sanctuary cities. Pelosi brazenly stated that although Wilkerson’s death and those of similar victims was unfortunate, the ideological goal of open borders takes precedence, adding that, “In our sanctuary cities, people are not disobeying the laws.” This is proof positive that Pelosi and her allies live in an alternate universe.
Illegal immigrants are law-breakers by virtue of their mere presence on our soil. The time has come to hold government officials and sanctuary cities responsible for the breakdown of our immigration policy by ending such cities unwarranted receipt of federal aid. Only then will decades of victimization inflicted upon unsuspecting Americans end; so long as the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately concurs.
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