In huge news announced just days after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, two legislators from North Carolina, United States Congressman Chuck Edwards and United States Senator Thom Tillis, reintroduced legislation that, if passed, will allow victims of illegal immigrants to sue the sanctuary cities that aided those illegal immigrants.
As background, their re-introduced legislation comes amidst a full-court press launched by the Trump Administration and its GOP allies against illegal immigration. That campaign consists of not only mass raids on suspected centers of illegal immigration and deportations, but also of legislation like the Laken Riley Act that tries to combat future illegal immigration and policies that are soft on it.
In any case, Sen. Tillis and Rep. Edwards announced the newly re-introduced bill in a press release, saying: “U.S. Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11) re-introduced the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act to provide justice for victims who are harmed by an illegal immigrant due to sanctuary city policies. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) is leading the Senate companion bill.”
Continuing, they commented on what it is that sanctuary cities do and how that harms America, saying, “Sanctuary cities endanger the public by refusing to abide by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests or share information about illegal immigrants who are in custody and have criminal records.”
Further, they noted that in not sharing that critical data and information about illegal immigration, and in refusing to just follow the law and work with ICE, sanctuary cities are harming America’s public safety. They said, “These sanctuary jurisdictions have allowed the release of dangerous illegals into communities, compromising public safety.”
Getting to the bill itself and what it will do, they noted that one provision of it will cut federal funding for cities that don’t follow immigration law. They said, “The Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act would withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities if they continue to refuse to enforce federal immigration law and put American lives at risk.”
Further, they noted that families of victims, and victims themselves, of illegal immigration will now be able to sue sanctuary cities for putting them at risk. “The bill would also allow a victim or victim’s family to bring a lawsuit against a state or local government if the entity failed to honor a lawful immigration detainer request made by the Department of Homeland Security, which allowed the violent illegal immigrant to remain in America and commit the crime,” the press release said.
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Commenting on the bill in a statement quoted by the press release, Rep. Edwards said, “Sanctuary cities have shielded many of the nearly 650,000 criminal illegal immigrants in the United States from facing the consequences for their violent crimes against innocent Americans for too many years. Sanctuary cities cannot continue to jeopardize Americans’ safety without being held accountable for their role in the illegal immigrant crime crisis we are facing today.”
Continuing, Rep. Edwards said, “The Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act that I’m re-introducing will finally hold these communities responsible when their harmful, illegal policies result in a crime against an American citizen, and will allow the victim to take legal action against counties, cities, or towns for the dangerous policies that directly led to their harm.”
Also commenting on the matter was Sen. Tillis, who said, “For far too long, we have watched local jurisdictions in North Carolina and across the country ignore the lawful notification and detainer requests made by ICE agents and instead release dangerous criminals back into their communities, putting innocent lives at risk.”
Sen. Tillis further noted, “I am committed to working with President Trump to end illegal immigration and fight sanctuary cities that prioritize reckless, lawless policies over public safety. It is clear that liberal politicians want to put political ideology ahead of the safety of their constituents. It is time for Congress to step in and hold sanctuary cities accountable.”
Watch DHS Secretary Kristi Noem comment on anti-illegal immigration operations here: