Speaking at the National Sheriff’s Association 2020 Winter Legislative and Technology Conference Monday, Attorney General William Barr announced new sanctions against sanctuary cities and said there’d be a “significant escalation” against local and state governments that obstruct the “lawful functioning of our nation’s immigration system”.
What We Know:
- Barr noted, “Let us state the reality upfront and as clearly as possible. When we are talking about sanctuary cities, we are talking about policies that are designed to allow criminal aliens to escape. These policies are not about people who came to our country illegally but have otherwise been peaceful and productive members of society. Their express purpose is to shelter aliens whom local law enforcement has already arrested for other crimes. This is neither lawful nor sensible.”
- Barr said a federal complaint has been filed by the Department Of Justice against the state of New Jersey over its laws that forbid state and local law enforcement from sharing vital information about criminal aliens with the Department of Homeland Security. King County, Washington, has also been targeted for prohibiting DHS from deporting illegal aliens from the international airport in the city, he said.
- For now, the attorney general announced the DOJ will bypass, “uncooperative jurisdictions” through federal subpoenas to get the information they need about criminal aliens.
- Barr announced at the event, “Further, we are reviewing the practices, policies, and laws of other jurisdictions across the country. This includes accessing whether jurisdictions are complying with our criminal laws, in particular the criminal statue that prohibits the harboring or shielding of aliens in the United States.”
- Barr explained, “While federal law does not require that ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ actively assist with federal immigration enforcement efforts.”
- Orange County, California Sheriff Don Barnes drew the praise of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement for releasing data last week showing that the state’s sanctuary law had resulted in the release of over 2,000 illegal immigrants with outstanding detainers over the last two years, with 411 of those later rearrested for additional charges.
We wonder if this will come up at the next Democratic debate, where candidates will have to reassert their support for sanctuary cities as well as their previous promise to provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants.
