Advocacy groups to Congress: Don't undermine 'sanctuary cities'

The Hill

By Rebecca Shabad

July 20, 2015

Advocacy groups to Congress: Don't undermine 'sanctuary cities' 

Congress should not undermine or defund “sanctuary cities,” the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities wrote in joint letters to lawmakers on Monday.

“We write on behalf of mayors and their city governments to register our strong opposition to legislation that would withhold federal law enforcement assistance from so-called “sanctuary cities”,” the letter said.

Law enforcement agencies, the groups said, have the right to prioritize their resources, define employees’ duties and direct their workforce in a certain direction, including in federal immigration cases.

“It is our strong belief that effective policing cannot be achieved by forcing an unwanted role upon the police by threat of sanctions or withholding of law enforcement assistance funding as has been proposed,” the letter continued.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have proposed legislation that would block federal grants to cities that operate under either “sanctuary” laws or practices in which local law enforcement officials fail to cooperate with federal law enforcement in immigration cases.

The advocacy groups argue punishing these cities “compromises public safety and hinders local police department efforts to work with immigrant communities in preventing and solving crimes.”

These policies have come under intense scrutiny because of the recent killing of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco. Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who was in the United States illegally and had been convicted of several felonies, has been charged in her death.

Lopez-Sanchez had been deported to Mexico five times, but was released in April from a local jail. San Francisco officials ignored a request from federal immigration officials to notify them when he was set free.

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment into a spending bill for next year that would make certain cities that refuse to cooperate in these cases ineligible for federal funding.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a top appropriator, has also demanded that Attorney General Loretta Lynch limit the Department of Justice’s availability of taxpayer funds — which Congress already allocated for 2015 — to these sanctuary cities.

Shelby admitted in his letter, however, that it’s difficult to identify which cities operate under these policies.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com