Hundreds of 'sanctuary' cities come under Congressional scrutiny
crime | Feb 3, 2016 | By Martin Barillas
House appropriations subcommittee chairman John Culberson (R-TX), who oversees funding for the U.S. Department of Justice called on the Obama administration to take steps to take state and local governments to task over offering sanctuary to illegal aliens or face problems in getting approval for federal budget requests. Culberson also announced that he will require local jurisdictions to adhere to federal law and stop obstructing communication with immigration agencies as a condition for receiving certain federal law enforcement funding. Three federal law enforcement funding programs that could become off-limits to sanctuaries currently dispense $1 billion+ each year to state and local agencies.
The Texas Republican wrote a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch demanding a halt to funding cities that reject Justice and Homeland Security demands for information and access to jailed immigrants. Culberson told Lynch that he must ensure that state and local law enforcement agencies are following federal law before they can get federal grants. He added that local sanctuary policies are a clearly in violation of Section 1373 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Among the jurisdictions that have imposed such policies are San Francisco, Cook County, Ill., and New York City. In addition to prohibiting local officers from communicating with immigration authorities, jurisdictions such as these prohibit federal officers from coming into jails to interview or arrest deportable criminals.
Additionally, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to cut state funding for the office of the Dallas County sheriff, a Democrat, if he continues to refuse the detention of illegal immigrants, as requested by federal authorities. Abbott requested sheriffs across the Lone Star State to comply with federal requests to detain illegal aliens. Abbott signed in June 2015 the most comprehensive border security plan of any state in the Union. He noted then that the Texas-Mexico border is a gateway for criminals to commit crimes throughout the country. Saying that 20,000 dangerous gang members associated with cross-border traffic-related crime were in Houston alone, he added that more than 100,000 gang members operate across the state of Texas.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, more than 9,000 criminal aliens that federal authorities were seeking to deport in 2014 were instead released. More than 2,300 of these committed further crimes within a few months.
Among the jurisdictions offering sanctuary to illegal aliens are Dallas County (TX), Philadelphia, five Kentucky counties, and possibly the whole state of Massachusetts.
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http://www.speroforum.com/a/QUSDWPAOCW28/77242-Hundreds-of-sanctuary-cities-come-under-Congressional-scrutiny#.VrXpFdD0SFq
