The Trump administration made it clear they will enforce America’s immigration laws.
Yet across the country, sanctuary cities and towns continue to flout those laws.
The Washington Times writes:
Speaking at the White House, Mr. Sessions said his department is preparing to dole out more than $4 billion in funds this year, but will try prevent any of it from going to sanctuaries.
“Countless Americans would be alive today … if these policies of sanctuary cities were ended,” Mr. Sessions said.
He said he’s carrying out a policy laid out by the Obama administration last year, which identified three grant programs — the COPS grants, Byrne grants and State Criminal Alien Assistance Program money — that already require sanctuary certification.
The Obama administration didn’t end up enforcing that policy, but Mr. Sessions said he’ll begin.
Sanctuaries are jurisdictions that thwart federal immigration agents’ efforts to deport illegal immigrants, usually be refusing to comply with detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The announcement was made during the White House Press Briefing on Monday.
WATCH: Attorney General Jeff Sessions takes aim at “sanctuary cities” during White House press briefing https://t.co/OWS5uX0juw
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 27, 2017
Wall Street Journal reports:
Mr. Sessions spoke at length of the problem of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants but said the policy announcement was merely reiterating an Obama administration stance adopted last year. “This policy is entirely consistent with…guidance issued last summer,” he said.
[….] It comes as Maryland is weighing whether to adopt a “sanctuary” stance statewide, and as some cities double down on their commitment to resist more aggressive immigration enforcement during Mr. Trump’s presidency.“I strongly urge our nation’s states, cities and counties to consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens and to rethink their policies,” Mr. Sessions said. “We have simply got to end this policy.”
New laws aren’t required to begin addressing America’s immigration problems.
As the administration points out, the laws and policies are already on the books.
The only difference is, the Trump White House is planning to actually enforce the law.