Sanctuary Cities Are a Myth

By Rich Kozlovich

This week I saw Ed Henry filling in as host on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News harangue "his guest, immigration attorney Francisco Hernandez, over sanctuary cities and Hernandez’s contention that they don’t exist." One thing is clear - Ed Henry isn't Tucker Carlson, and if this interview is any indication - he's as dumb as dirt - and rude and obnoxious because of it. 

He kept trying to make the man look like a fool because he deliberately refused to grasp - or was incapable of grasping - what the man was saying.  Hernandez claimed sanctuary cities are a myth simply because nothing - nothing - the cities do can trump (no pun intended) federal immigration law!  If the federal government wants to come and arrest someone these cities can do nothing about it.  They can call themselves whatever they wish, but there's no such thing as a "sanctuary city" in law.  That makes it a myth!

However, their refusal to cooperate with federal authorities in affirming the legal status of it's citizens seems to me to be illegal.   It has been unanimously affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Muehler v. Mena that all police, federal or local, absolutely can question anyone's immigration status, and may do so at their discretion.   Plus all state, county and municipal authorities are required by "federal law to share an immigration status with federal authorities pursuant 8 U.S. Code 1373", and any attempt by local politicians to thwart that effort by telling local law enforcement to refuse to cooperate in the enforcement of these laws is illegal. 

The question that needs answering is this: Why aren't some of these local officials already in jail?   But no matter what - their city's status as a "Sanctuary City" really is a myth.  No such animal exists in law!  And states are going to start passing legislations to drive that fact home to these misguided politicos.  Which is exactly what the State of Texas is going to do by passing legislation that will not only make it illegal for a city to delcare itself a "Sanctuary City" - any official who promotes sanctuary cities will be removed from office.  The legislation will also impose "criminal penalties as well as financial penalties.”

The laws of the land can't simply be ignored!  They can be challenged - unlike much of the rest of the world we have a system for that - but they can't be ignored!  Especially when laws involving public safety are ignored.

"An IGS-UC Berkeley poll shows that 74 percent of Californians want sanctuary cities ended; 65 percent of Hispanics, 70 percent of independents, 73 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans."  How dare they demand the state and local authorities keep them safe! Does that make all those Californians "racists"?

There's all sorts of way to defeat this insanity, including cutting off funding, which I'm sure will stop this in short order, and it appears there are "powerful penalties" that can be imposed against any state, county or city that declares itself to be a sanctuary for illegal aliens.

In an article published by the VermontWatchdog.org on January 27, 2017, Emma Lamberton says:

"Trump signed an executive order directing the government to identify federal funding to withhold from so-called sanctuary cities, where leaders have said they will ignore U.S. immigration laws and instruct local law enforcement not to cooperate with federal immigration officials."

"In Vermont, Montpelier and Winooski are sanctuary cities. Burlington is not an official sanctuary city, but has adopted policies protecting illegal immigrants. East Montpelier is currently in deliberations to determine whether the city will become a sanctuary city."

"Earlier this month, East Montpelier Select Board member Carl Etnier told Watchdog that the threat of funding removal was something to take seriously, especially transportation and infrastructure grants. “Those are useful to us, and if that question comes up then we will look at how important are these principles? How important is this declaration?” he said."

 She goes on to say:

"On Thursday, Miami-Dade County, Fla., Republican Mayor Carlos Gimenez, ordered the director of his corrections department to reverse course and honor all requests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain illegal immigration suspects, making it the first city to respond to Trump’s policy. While the president can target certain types of funding with an executive order, broader federal spending is largely determined by Congress." 

"Vermont, while not officially a sanctuary state, is friendly to illegal immigrants, even allowing illegal residents to obtain drivers licenses, which may be used as employment IDs. Any move to defund programs for entire states would have to come from Congress."

But most importantly - there's a new Sheriff in town - Sen. Jeff Sessions as the new Attorney General of the United States,  and I guarantee - things are going to change.   Of course we could resort to the nanosecond solution.  This is the one I like!

Put the Moonbeam governor of California Jerry Brown in jail the first day the state legislature passes any bill he signs ordering local officials not to cooperate with federal law enforcement on immigration.  If Moonbeam goes to jail on a Monday  - especially if he's put in general population - a nanosecond later there will be no more mythical "Sanctuary Cities".