The U.S. Senate and Congress are weighing options to punish sanctuary cities after a 19-year-old San Francisco woman named Kathlyn Steinle was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant who had been released from jail.
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“It’s unbelievable to see so many innocent Americans that have been killed by undocumented immigrant felons in the recent years”, said Jim Steinle, who traveled from Pleasanton with his wife, Liz Sullivan, to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kathryn Steinle was killed earlier this month as she and Jim Steinle walked along a San Francisco pier.
The fatal shooting of Kate Steinle set off a furious debate across the country about sanctuary policies, which direct local authorities not to contact the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they are releasing undocumented immigrants from custody.
“Unfortunately, due to un-jointed laws and basic incompetence of the government, the USA has suffered a self-inflicted wound in the murder of our daughter by the hand of a person that should have never been on the streets in this country”, he said Tuesday.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has proposed legislation to deny federal law enforcement funding to cities that refuse to contact federal agencies about immigration violations, said he’s disgusted Immigration and Enforcement officials are not taking action against cities, even without a specific legislative mandate.
Grassley’s bill, dubbed “Kate’s Law” by Fox TV personality Bill O’Reilly, goes much further.
“Dad, help me”, Kathryn Steinle said as she fell to the ground. “We feel strongly that some legislation should be discussed, enacted, or changed to take these undocumented immigrant felons off our streets for good”.
But many on the right say this is not the way to handle illegal immigrants, and that this policy did help lead to Kate Steinle’s death. “Real lives are at stake”.
“With regard to the annual request by Cook County to be reimbursed for the cost of detaining individuals who are here unlawfully and have committed crimes, obviously I find that position to be completely inconsistent with them not allowing us access to and removing those very same individuals”, Mr. Morton testified.
The bill would also impose a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence along with a fine for immigrants who attempt to return to the USA after a previous deportation.
The “Enforce the law for Sanctuary Cities Act”, would withhold several kinds of federal grants for police and immigration services in cities that intentionally ignore immigration laws. “Things can not continue this way”.
Local law enforcement entities argue sanctuary cities boost local crime prevention.
“Policies that criminalize immigrants and convert sheriffs into deportation agents have endangered communities, undermined trust in law enforcement, and resulted in grave civil rights violations”, Alvarado said. “But that did not happen”, she said.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who since 2008 has pushed legislation to defund sanctuary cities, said the administration has done “absolutely nothing” to deter local jurisdictions from implementing noncooperation policies.
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Immigrant advocates denounced the approach, accusing Republicans of following presidential candidate Donald Trump in demonizing Latinos. Steinle’s sister-in-law Amy Warehouse found comfort hearing other families testify, telling similar, heartbreaking stories and adamant that something needs to be done. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was adamant during Tuesday’s hearing that Sanchez’s criminal record shows “the failure of the system”.
