As illegal immigrants are arrested across the country for violent crimes, sanctuary cities come under scrutiny
Karl Rove: Biden’s border trip is an attempt to divert attention from the real situation.
Karl Rove, discusses the ongoing immigration crises as President Biden (and former President Trump) are scheduled to visit the border on Thursday. He also reacts to Biden’s interview with Seth Meyers.
White House calls on “sanctuary cities” and jurisdictions in the U.S., to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport criminal illegal immigrants. This comes as a result of recent high-profile crimes that were committed by illegal aliens who had been released from local law enforcement despite ICE’s pleas.
A White House spokesperson responded to a Fox News Digital question on Wednesday about the White House’s stance on sanctuary towns by saying, “We appreciate local law enforcement support and cooperation to apprehend and remove individuals who pose a threat to national security or public safety.” We want local authorities to inform ICE when they have information on an individual who could be a danger to public safety.
Since May 12, DHS removed or returned over 565,000 people, the majority of whom had crossed the Southwest Border. “565,000 removals or returns is more than any full fiscal year from 2013”, they said.
Sanctuary cities limit or prohibit law enforcement from honoring ICE Detainers. These are requested by the agency to be notified before they leave state custody and allow ICE to take illegal immigrants into custody. ICE revealed this week that the alleged killer Georgia nursing student Laken R. Riley had been arrested in New York City but released before ICE issued a detainer.
ICE agents arrested a Honduran gang leader in Maryland. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
Separately, other illegal immigrants have been accused of crimes, including the murder of a two-year-old child in Maryland. Detainers were lodged but authorities did not honor them. ICE announced last week that a Guatemalan immigrant had been arrested and convicted of sexually assaulting a Boston child. ICE had placed a detainer on him, but he was released.
On Thursday, President Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley to visit the southern border. He will meet local officials, Border Patrol, and law enforcement. Biden, according to the White House, will reiterate his call for Congress to pass bipartisan border agreements that would increase staffing at the border and tighten asylum rules as well as increase funding for communities and NGOs who receive migrants.
A spokesperson stated that “he will discuss the urgency of passing the Senate bipartisan agreement on border security, the most tough and fair set of reforms in decades to secure the border,” He will call on Congressional Republicans not to play politics, and to provide funding for more U.S. Border Patrol officers, more asylum officers and fentanyl detector technology, among other things.
The advocates of sanctuary policies claim that they aren’t obligated by federal law to assist in immigration enforcement and that this can encourage otherwise legal illegal immigrants to speak to police without fear of deportation. There are now many sanctuary jurisdictions in the U.S.
On September 15, 2023, President Biden will speak in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, in Washington, D.C.
Biden, as a 2020 presidential candidate, appeared to be in favor of these policies. He answered “no”, when asked in a Democratic primary debate of March 2020 if “undocumented migrants” arrested by local law enforcement should be handed over to immigration officials.
Biden’s first day in office saw his administration announce a moratorium of 100 days on all deportations. This was blocked by a federal court judge. The DOJ also reversed the Trump-era restrictions on DOJ funding that were linked to immigration enforcement and excluded sanctuary cities.
Biden’s ICE continues to criticize the sanctuary cities that do not cooperate. According to Fox News, acting ICE director Patrick Lechleitner said that these jurisdictions were “inherently unsafe.”
He said, “It’s a concern and I am very baffled.”
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told mayors back in 2022 that his goal was to persuade them to change their policies.
“Some of your cities have refused to cooperate with the immigration authorities, due to their past, in the removal, apprehension, and removal of individuals even when they pose a threat to public safety.” “I don’t want to suggest that the distrust that underlies policies like that is undeserved,” he said to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Mayorkas stressed that immigration enforcement under the administration is limited to recent border crosses, threats to public safety, and threats to national security, unlike the Trump administration.
“But I want to tell you that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency today, and the things it is focused on, and the work it does, are not the agencies of the past. “We are not engaging in indiscriminate enforcer, but are focused on making communities safe, and allowing those that have contributed and been productive members to continue their contribution and productivity,” he stated.
“I will come to you and ask you to reconsider your non-cooperation position and see what we can do together.”
Some indications suggest that sanctuary city leaders may be reconsidering their stance. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said this week, more than once, that he wanted to soften policy.
Adams stated Tuesday that he did not believe violent people in our city who commit crimes repeatedly should be allowed to live in the city.
He said, “You have no right to be here and discredit the vast majority of people who are following the rules.”
