Defund Sanctuary Cities Now!
A quarter of US States are Sanctuary States including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. There are over 300 Sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide!
House Republicans have thrust Secretary Mayorkas into the crosshairs of an escalating impeachment effort.
Few know that, at the heart of this political storm, is a recent Supreme Court ruling on Texas v. United States, a case stemming from a contentious memo Mayorkas issued in September 2021. The memo directed ICE to "exercise discretion" in performing only the highest-priority removals, essentially creating insurmountable obstacles for the deportation of millions of illegal aliens.
The legal battle's conclusion in the Supreme Court, rejecting claims that the federal government is obligated to perform removals under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, has intensified House Republicans' determination to lay the groundwork for Mayorkas' impeachment. However, amidst the headline-grabbing theatrics of house hearings and potential impeachments, a silent threat looms beyond the federal level—sanctuary states and cities.
Biden's "Americans Last" policies have triggered nationwide outrage, notably seen in Boston, where students were abruptly kicked out of in-person learning, placing an additional burden on working parents and jeopardizing educational progress. In the last week of December, we learned of the disgraceful diversion of healthcare and veteran resources to illegal immigrants by Biden's Department of Veteran Affairs. Last September we learned that nearly one million American workers were displaced by illegals provided work permits.
As of 2023, an estimated 300 sanctuary localities, armed with explicit policies obstructing immigration enforcement, pose a formidable challenge. Formerly restrained by a Trump-era policy linking federal grant money to cooperation with immigration enforcement, sanctuary jurisdictions are once again flush with federal cash.
The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), The Edward M. Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG), and The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) collectively contributed to sanctuary coffers. Shockingly, 43% of the $1.4 billion available through these grants went to sanctuary jurisdictions in 2021, representing a seismic shift from previous years.
$602M in taxpayer-funded government grants were paid to sanctuary jurisdictions in 2021 alone and could be as much as $1.8B since Biden took office.
These numbers are staggering! In 2010, SCAAP awarded just 16% of its total to sanctuary jurisdictions compared to 58% in 2021—a share almost four times larger than under the Obama administration.
To counter this growing menace, House Republicans must strategically wield the power of the purse. Future appropriations bills should restrict federal grant funding, creating incentives for sanctuary jurisdictions to reconsider their policies before 2025 and the potential arrival of a new administration. Many of these jurisdictions possess laws that hinder cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and dismantling these legal roadblocks should be a priority.
Congress must Mayorkas and renegade localities by wielding the power of the purse! House Republicans have a potential game-changer in their hands—one that could redefine the landscape of immigration discourse in the years to come.
