Southern California public radio station KPCC warns that taxpayers in “sanctuary cities” stand to pay the price if those cities refuse to comply with enforcement of federal immigration laws under the Trump administration, and instead continue harboring illegal aliens against deportation.
Sanctuary city policies can vary from city to city that choose to institute them. For example, San Francisco governmental policies restrict authorities from complying with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers for illegal aliens in law enforcement custody, in most circumstances.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has suggested that he may withhold federal funding from cities that refuse to comply with federal immigration laws.
Just last week, La Puente, California passed a symbolic sanctuary city resolution. The city, which sits within Los Angeles County, contracts with the county Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services, according to KPCC. The Sheriff’s department already practices sanctuary policies, including not detaining anyone on suspicion of illegal alien status. La Puente City Manager David Carmany said the community loses the $2.3 million in federal funds it was expecting to receive this year. KPCC reported that the city’s general fund is just $12 million which the federal funds would contribute to if received.
“Whether it’s a penny, a dollar or a million dollars, the point is that that’s our money coming back from Washington,” Redlands Tea Party spokesman John Berry told KPCC before blaming sanctuary cities’ “choice to engage to protect illegal residents” for the possible reduction in funds.
The pro-immigration enforcement Center for Immigration Studies published a December 2016 map of sanctuary cities, counties and states across the United States.
In July 2015, young Kate Steinle became yet another victim of illegal alien crime when five-times deported, seven-time convicted felon illegal alien Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez shot and killed Steinle at a San Francisco pier. The foreign national had been in custody shortly before he murdered Steinle, but despite a detainer request from U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), he was transferred to San Francisco on a 20-year-old bench warrant for a minor drug infraction that the Sheriff later said is one the city almost never prosecutes. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department specifically asked for the transfer of the offender, and after Sanchez was released from custody on April 15, Steinle was shot on July 1, not three months after her killer’s release and right before of her father’s eyes.
Steinle’s killer later said that he chose to relocate to San Francisco precisely because of its sanctuary city policies.
In July 2015, during President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, he met with a few of the many families who have lost loved ones at the hands of illegal aliens. As Breitbart News senior editor-at-large Joel B. Pollak has written, it was a turning point in the campaign.
Should sanctuary cities choose to wage legal battles against the federal government to receive funds despite their non-enforcement policies, their residents may face further financial burdens.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.