According to the latest bill being promulgated by the U.S. Senate, Republican lawmakers, including Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, are pressuring Congress to take immediate action to expedite the deportation of many undocumented individuals present in the United States who have a criminal history. Undocumented individuals with an arrest history or have a conviction for a “serious crime” would be targeted for immediate detention by the Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Once these individuals are taken into ICE custody, they would be processed and eventually slated for removal or deportation from the United States, despite the number of years they have resided in their country, or their family and community ties.
The new bill, entitled, The Criminal Alien Deportation Act, has been put forward by Republicans in an effort to enforce the immigration laws more conservatively and aggressively in response to President Obama’s recent attempt at a Comprehensive Immigration Reform policy. This effort was further brought to the forefront of the national news following the death of Kathryn Steinle, who was shot and killed by an undocumented individual in San Francisco, California earlier this month. The bill is further intended to target certain cities that have come to be known as “sanctuary cities.” These cities house a large number of undocumented individuals and local government officials do not report their information or findings to ICE officials following their arrest or detainment. Some of these “sanctuary cities” include, San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Ana, Oakland, Salinas, California, El Paso, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Houston, Detroit, San Jose, Seattle, Minneapolis, New Haven, Cambridge, Denver, Portland, Oregon and Portland Maine.
The shooter, in Ms. Steinle’s killing, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez had recently been released from criminal custody in March, after being transferred to San Francisco due to an outstanding arrest warrant. Since his drug related case was dismissed and he was located in a “sanctuary city”, he was released but prosecutors did not notify ICE officials, who would have detained and ultimately deported him. The county jail who released him is being blamed for not reporting his release, according to reports by the Washington Post.
The tragic death of Ms. Steinle is being used as an example by the Republican Party to further their anti-immigration ideology and plea for strong immigration enforcement policies and stricter immigration laws. On Tuesday the House Appropriation Committee, which is led by the Republican Party, voted to limit the Department of Homeland Security’s funding in these sanctuary cities.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson was quick to defend President Obama’s administration’s immigration policies and the existence of these sanctuary cities. In response to the Republican outcry against the current proposed immigration policies, he stated that the conduct of state and local enforcement should not be mandated or regulated by federal legislation. Secretary Johnson went on to say that he believes a “cooperative effort” is the best approach to work within jurisdictions.
