Storm Clouds Brewing in Fight between Sanctuary Cities and the Federal Government

One of President Trump’s signature promises during the general election was to bring a halt to the flood of illegal immigrants pouring over our borders and that is already underway. He also addressed the need to deport as many illegals as possible, especially those who have committed felony crimes.

Now he is finding that the greatest hindrance to enforcing his promise may not be Mexico but American cities that refuse to aid in identifying and detaining the millions of illegals within our borders.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it plain this past Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice intends to bring the full weight of his department to bear on cities that seek to frustrate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) from carrying out its assigned duty.

But at least 200 cities in the U.S. have chosen to label themselves “sanctuary cities”. The term refers to jurisdictions that have chosen as policy to refuse to comply with federal requests to detain undocumented immigrants when arrested charges unrelated to their immigration status

At a recent conference for sanctuary city representatives, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said, “We are going to become this administration’s worst nightmare.” She was joined in her defiance by officials from Seattle, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, New York, and Philadelphia.

Mark-Viverito along with her fellow attendees vowed to prevent federal immigration agents from accessing private areas on city property, restrict access to schools and school records, and to offer free legal services for immigrants residing in the country illegally.

In the face of this rebellion, AG Sessions announced that the U.S. Department of Justice would block grants to cities designating themselves as sanctuaries. He further specified that cities must show themselves to be in compliance with Section 1373 of U.S. Code Title 8.

That code requires that federal officials be notified when a local jurisdiction has anyone in custody that is in this country illegally. That policy gone unenforced since it was issued by Obama administration in 2016.

Sessions announcement follow a report from the Trump administration that that listed over 200 cases of immigrants who were released from custody before federal agents could intervene.

“(Sanctuary Cities) make our nation less safe by putting dangerous criminals back on our streets,” Sessions said. “We intend to use every lawful authority we have to make sure our state and local officials, who are so important to law enforcement, are in sync with the federal government.”

California Senate leader Kevin de León called Sessions’ message, “nothing short of blackmail. … Their gun-to-the-head method to force resistant cities and counties to participate in Trump’s inhumane and counterproductive mass-deportation is unconstitutional and will fail.”

In spite of the fact that Chicago stands to lose over $ 1 Billion in federal funding, Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised that Chicago will “continue to welcome” immigrants, legal or otherwise.

Speaking of his city, Emmanuel said, “It welcomed my grandfather 100 years ago, we continue to welcome entrepreneurs, immigrants, and I would just say think of it this way: Half the new businesses in Chicago and the state of Illinois come from immigrants, nearly half. Half the patents at the University of Illinois come from immigrants, and so we want to continue to welcome people, welcome their ideas, welcome their families to the city of Chicago, who want to build the American dream for their children and their grandchildren.”

In spite of news of a violent criminal who is also an illegal being released, Acting Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser defended the policy that the District would not enforce U.S. civil immigration laws.

28-year-old El Hadji Alpha Madiou Toure, is suspected in the murder of Corrina Mehiel in a Northeast D.C. home last week. When Newsham  was asked about the suspect’s immigration status at Tuesday’s press conference. “I think you know that the Metropolitan Police Department does not ask questions about immigration status.”

Newsham continued, “We believe that the enforcement of civil immigration laws creates a divide between us and the community we serve and at the end of the day we believe that will make our community less safe. As the Chief of Police, I don’t think I should be involved in any behavior that makes our city less safe.”

There is no doubt storms clouds have been brewing for some time over the illegal immigrant issue. Only time will tell how effective AG Sessions’ policies will be.

~Conservative Zone


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