A GOP senator is seeking to dismantle sanctuary policies in America’s cities and ultimately provide better protections for federal immigration enforcement officials in a brand new bill that was created to combat disruptions to the Trump administration’s operations to enforce immigration law.
It is Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) who plans to introduce the Protect America Act. The bill is a huge, comprehensive legislative package that would punish sanctuary cities, enhance penalties for entry and reentry into the country, increase protections for federal officers, and defund “corrupt” nongovernmental organizations, or nonprofits fighting against President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Schmitt’s goal with the package is to help reduce the civil unrest that is boiling over in major cities across the United States, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are carrying out deportation operations. The introduction of the Protect America Act comes hot on the heels of anti-ICE protests that continue to explode in Minneapolis, where two agitators have been shot and killed after assaulting ICE officers.
“This environment demands action,” Schmitt went on to say in a statement. “The Protect America Act is a comprehensive, four-part legislative response designed to address the root causes of disorder, restore lawful enforcement authority, protect federal officers from coordinated interference and violence, and prevent the abuse of nonprofit status to shield or support criminal activity.”
According to a report published by Fox News, the legislation package would require cities to cooperate with ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies in order to receive federal funding. If cities refuse to comply, they lose the funding entirely. The package also requires jails and detention centers to work with ICE to share information vital to the success of these operations, including identity, immigration status, and release timing for detainees. It also allows folks to file lawsuits for civil liabilities if a “removable alien” is knowingly released into a sanctuary city and then commits a serious crime, while also putting a stop to new foreign student visas until jurisdictions fully comply with immigration law.
The package looks to increase protections for federal agents by closing loopholes that allow people to use whistles or other devices to interfere with officer communications. If passed, it will impose strict penalties of up to five years in prison for those who obstruct federal agents’ duties, while also ensuring that First Amendment protections state in no uncertain terms that the “act does not prohibit expressive content or lawful expressive conduct.” The Protect America Act also makes assaulting a federal law enforcement officer a federal offense.
Schmitt’s legislative package also increases the strength of penalties for illegal entry and reentry into the U.S. by bringing catch-and-release policies and mandating detention. Under the act, illegal entry becomes a felony offense. Those who illegally reenter the country will face stricter penalties, including steep fines and potential sentences of two years in prison.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), along with other congressional Democrats, have offered up a bill of their own, featuring a list of competing demands that are meant to slap limitations on the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Democrats want these new restrictions to be codified in exchange for their support for the now sidelined Homeland Security funding bill.
“My view is we’re not doing any of this stuff until, unless, we end sanctuary city status, because that’s what’s causing all of this, is the lack of cooperation,” Schmitt stated in response to Democrats’ demands. “It’s the confrontations that are being created, and why you don’t see this in blue or red jurisdictions that aren’t sanctuary status. So this solution is very obvious. I think there’s a political grandstanding on their part.”