Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is on the defensive this weekend after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced that a convicted felon, now facing charges of sexually assaulting a toddler in a downtown Chicago McDonalds bathroom, was supposed to have been turned over to ICE and deported &#8212; and had been deported before.
&#8220;ICE said in a news release Thursday [Christopher] Puente was placed into Chicago police custody in June of 2019 after he was arrested for theft,&#8221; <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/5973356/">according to a Chicago ABC affiliate</a>. &#8220;According to ICE, Chicago police were expected to hold Puente until he could be taken into their custody, as Puente was expected to be deported.&#8221;
Because Chicago is a so-called &#8220;Sanctuary City&#8221; and has lenient bail policies, Puente was released back into the community.
Puente is now charged with raping a 3-year-old girl in the bathroom of Chicago&#8217;s landmark &#8220;Rock &amp; Roll McDonalds,&#8221; a major tourist destination just north of the city&#8217;s downtown, and just west of its &#8220;Magnificent Mile&#8221; shopping district. Puente allegedly lured the girl away from her father, who was attending to the girl&#8217;s brother inside a bathroom stall. Puente, police say, dragged the girl into his stall, locked the door, molested and assaulted her. The girl&#8217;s father, alerted by her screams, rescued her, but could not catch Puente, CPD says, who bolted from the bathroom and out the door of the McDonalds, into the street.
&#8220;Puente was being investigated for trespassing when police recognized him from the surveillance pictures because he was wearing the same clothes he has on following Monday&#8217;s attack,&#8221; <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/no-bond-for-man-charged-in-sexual-assault-of-toddler-at-river-north-restaurant/5950934/">ABC Chicago</a> said in a seprate story.
Chicago&#8217;s branch of ICE says &#8220;Puente had been deported to Mexico in 2014 over a prior burglary conviction, but tried to get back in five days later, claiming to be a citizen, and later skipped out on a hearing before an immigration judge. He was ordered deported again in 2017 in absentia,&#8221; <a href="https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/02/28/mayor-lori-lightfoot-sanctuary-city-welcoming-city-deported-convicted-felon-chirsotpher-puente-sexual-assault-ice-immigration-customs-enforcement/">according to CBS Chicago</a>.
&#8220;Puente has been previously convicted of burglary, forgery, trespassing, domestic battery and related offenses and has a record dating back 20 years,&#8221; CBS noted.
Now ICE is blaming Chicago&#8217;s &#8220;Welcoming City Ordinance&#8221; &#8212; and its supporters &#8212; for facilitating a horrifying crime.
&#8220;How many more victims must there be before lawmakers realize that sanctuary policies do not protect the innocent?” ICE&#8217;s Chicago field office director told CBS. “Puente should have been in ICE custody last year and removed to his home country. Instead, irresponsible lawmaking allowed him to walk free and prey on our most vulnerable.”
Lightfoot laid the blame on ICE: “If ICE is complaining, then they should do their job better, and they shouldn’t do things that are traumatizing young children,&#8221; she said, referring to ICE operations where parents are arrested in front of kids. &#8220;That’s not acceptable, and I was very clear and blunt about that. How is that right?”
&#8220;They&#8217;re critical because we have said very clearly we are a welcoming city, a sanctuary city. Chicago Police Department will not cooperate with ICE on any immigration-related business,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And that&#8217;s affected their ability to conduct immigration raids across the city. But that&#8217;s exactly our intention. We have to make sure our police department is seen as a legitimate force in all our communities.&#8221;
ICE has again requested that Puente be held in anticipation of another possible deportation. Puente is currently in jail awaiting trial on the sexual assault charges.

Lori Lightfoot

Chicago Mayor Defends ‘Sanctuary City’ Policy After ICE Says Man Accused Of Raping Toddler Was Previously Deported

Chicago

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Sanctuary Cities

Sexual Assault

A federal appeals court held Wednesday that the Trump administration can withhold millions of dollars in grants to states that set up Sanctuary Cities and refuse to work with federal immigration authorities.
The Associated Press <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-02-26/trump-sanctuary-cities-appeals-court-funding">reported</a> that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan made the ruling Wednesday morning, overturning a lower court decision that said the federal government had to release law enforcement grants to states that refused to cooperate with the federal government when it came to criminal illegal immigrants. The administration previously had refused to release the funding to seven states and New York City over their Sanctuary City policies. The affected states are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.
“The states and city sued the U.S. government after the Justice Department announced in 2017 that it would withhold grant money from cities and states until they gave federal immigration authorities access to jails and provide advance notice when someone in the country illegally is about to be released,” the AP reported. “Before the change, cities and states seeking grant money were required only to show they were not preventing local law enforcement from communicating with federal authorities about the immigration status of people who were detained.”
As evidence has shown, cities and states have actively prevented local law enforcement from communicating with federal authorities about criminal illegal aliens. As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-offices-across-the-country-arrested-hundreds-of-criminal-illegal-immigrants-last-week">reported</a>, U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) arrested hundreds of criminal illegal aliens in September 2019, even as states across the country refused to inform them when criminals were being released from prison due to sanctuary city policies. In March 2019, ICE officials arrested <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-officials-new-york-arrested-more-20-illegal-ashe-schow">more than 20 illegal immigrants</a> after they were released from New York prisons without notifying federal authorities. In Illinois, Cook County ignored <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cook-county-ignored-more-than-1000-ice-detainers-in-fiscal-year-2019-allowing-repeat-offenders-to-roam-free">more than 1,000 ICE detainers</a> in fiscal year 2019, allowing criminals back onto the streets to harm more U.S. citizens.
As the AP reported, three other federal appeals courts, representing additional states, ruled differently when it comes to federal grants and sanctuary cities.
“In the past two years, federal appeals courts in Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco have ruled against the federal government by upholding lower-court injunctions placed on the enforcement of some or all of the challenged conditions,” the AP reported.
The 2nd Circuit, however, stated that relevant laws give the U.S. Attorney General authority to impose conditions on those receiving federal grants. Further, the court stated the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled favorably for the federal government to exercise its powers over states regarding immigration enforcement.
The grant program in question is known as the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which was named after a 22-year-old New York City police officer who was shot to death “while guarding the home of a Guyanese immigrant cooperating with authorities investigating drug trafficking,” the AP reported. The grant was created in 2006 and provides more than $250 million in federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

Trump

Trump Win: Court Rules Trump Can Withhold Funds To States With ‘Sanctuary Cities’

Donald Trump

Illegal Immigration

On Saturday, former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan appeared on “Fox &amp; Friends: Weekend” with host Griff Jenkins.
During the segment, Jenkins asked Homan about the Trump administration’s plans to allow Border Patrol agents to travel to sanctuary cities in order to capture illegal immigrants.
Homan praised the policy, saying that Trump is “absolutely right,” and that he himself asked Congress to do something about the issue for years, but they didn’t, and they won’t because “they want it to be a 2020 issue.”
Homan added that when “California passed their sanctuary law,” and he was the head of ICE, he “sent a lot of additional agents out to California,” which he claims the state saw as “retaliation.”
<blockquote>It wasn&#8217;t retaliation. When you take an agent of the jail, an agent that can process ten illegal aliens during a shift, and you choose to kick the officer out of the jail, then release those ten illegal aliens, it takes a whole fusion of operations teams to find this person on his turf, [who has] access to who knows what weapons &#8230; cover the backdoor, cover the front door, make an entry team. So, it takes a hell of a lot more agents.</blockquote>
“I&#8217;m glad the President&#8217;s doing this,” Homan said. “This is a great idea. This will help arrest those who are public safety threats and take them off our streets.”
Jenkins asked Homan if Trump’s new policy will “send a message south of the border,” to which Homan replied, “Absolutely.”
<blockquote>It&#8217;s going to send a strong message that, look, this country is not open to illegal immigration. If you&#8217;re lucky enough to get by the Border Patrol, you&#8217;re not home free no matter what the Democrat leadership wants to say. You can go to a so-called sanctuary city. There&#8217;s no sanctuary. ICE is not going to allow sanctuary; neither is the Border Patrol.</blockquote>
Switching gears, Jenkins then played Homan a clip of former Vice President Joe Biden speaking with journalist Jorge Ramos, claiming that illegal immigration isn’t a “burden,” but “a gift.”
Homan reacted, saying that Biden has “lost his mind because illegal immigration is not a gift.”
<blockquote>Legal immigration is &#8230; that&#8217;s why the President wrote a plan to base immigration on merit where those people can assimilate, help us grow this country and this economy. Illegal immigration is far from a gift. 31% of women being raped is not a gift. Children dying on the border is not a gift. Me, [standing at the] back of a tractor trailer with 19 dead immigrants at my feet was not a gift. Driving down American wages is not a gift. Taxing our schools and our hospitals is not a gift.</blockquote>
Homan then noted that when he worked under the Obama/Biden administration, he was given the Presidential Rank Award. “I don&#8217;t know what he&#8217;s doing other than pandering. It&#8217;s just a ridiculous statement to make.”
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According to the official <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ero-ead-thomas-homan-receives-2015-presidential-rank-award">ICE website</a>, Homan was given the award in part because he “marshalled efforts to handle the surge of unaccompanied children and family units from Central America who illegally entered the United States from across the Texas Rio Grande Valley,” and “he spearheaded the management and reform of the largest civil detention system in the nation.”
During his State of the Union speech on February 4, President Trump urged Congress to pass Sen. Thom Tillis’ (R-NC) legislation, which would allow people to sue sanctuary cities “when a loved one is hurt or killed as a result of these deadly practices.”
<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2059/text?r=1&amp;s=1">S. 2059</a> reads in part:
<blockquote>Any individual, or a spouse, parent, or child of such individual (if the individual is deceased or permanently incapacitated), who is the victim of a murder, rape, or any felony (as defined by the State) for which an alien (as defined in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (<a href="http://uscode.house.gov/quicksearch/get.plx?title=8&amp;section=1101">8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3)</a>) has been arrested, convicted, or sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least 1 year, may bring an action for compensatory damages against a State or a political subdivision of a State in the appropriate Federal or State court if the State or political subdivision failed to comply with—
(A) a request with respect to an alien that was lawfully made by the Department of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (<a href="http://uscode.house.gov/quicksearch/get.plx?title=8&amp;section=1226">8 U.S.C. 1226</a> and 1357); and
(B) a detainer for, or notify about the release of, the alien.</blockquote>
The following is a portion of the president’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-state-union-address-3/">SOTU speech</a> pertaining to illegal immigration:
<blockquote>In sanctuary cities, local officials order police to release dangerous criminal aliens to prey upon the public, instead of handing them over to ICE to be safely removed.
Just 29 days ago, a criminal alien freed by the sanctuary city of New York was charged with the brutal rape and murder of a 92-year-old woman.  The killer had been previously arrested for assault, but under New York’s sanctuary policies, he was set free.  If the city had honored ICE’s detainer request, his victim would still be alive today.
The state of California passed an outrageous law declaring their whole state to be a sanctuary for criminal illegal immigrants – a very terrible sanctuary – with catastrophic results&#8230;
Senator Thom Tillis has introduced legislation to allow Americans like Jody to sue sanctuary cities and states when a loved one is hurt or killed as a result of these deadly practices.
I ask Congress to pass the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act immediately.  The United States of America should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not criminal aliens.
In the last three years, ICE has arrested over 5,000 wicked human traffickers.  And I have signed nine pieces of legislation to stamp out the menace of human trafficking, domestically and all around the globe.  My administration has undertaken an unprecedented effort to secure the southern border of the United States.</blockquote>
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WATCH: Former ICE Head Praises Trump’s Proposal To Send Border Patrol Agents To Sanctuary Cities

Customs and Border Patrol

Tom Homan

The Trump administration is reportedly sending elite federal tactical units from the southern border to sanctuary cities across the United States in an effort to boost Immigration and Customs Enforcement&#8217;s (ICE) ability to enforce federal immigration laws.
The New York Times reports that the units will be deployed to the Democrat-controlled cities of Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit, and Newark.
&#8220;The move reflects President Trump’s persistence in cracking down on sanctuary cities, localities that have refused to cooperate in handing over immigrants targeted for deportation to federal authorities,&#8221; the Times added. &#8220;It comes soon after the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security announced a series of measures that will affect both American citizens and immigrants living in those places.&#8221;
Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence told the Times in a statement that the deployment is coming in response to Democrat policies that make it difficult for federal agents to enforce the law.
“As we have noted for years, in jurisdictions where we are not allowed to assume custody of aliens from jails, our officers are forced to make at-large arrests of criminal aliens who have been released into communities,” Albence said. “When sanctuary cities release these criminals back to the street, it increases the occurrence of preventable crimes, and more importantly, preventable victims.”
The Times noted that the officials indicated that the goal of the deployments was to increase immigration-related arrests by 35%. The officials stressed that the units that were being deployed would not be &#8220;busting down doors or engaging in shootouts&#8221; and that their role was to simply support local ICE agents that the Democrat-controlled cities were not providing support to.
ICE officials have had an even harder time carrying out their mission as far-left politicians like socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have encouraged people to tip off illegal aliens to impending immigration enforcement actions by federal authorities.
At a recent rally in Iowa, Ocasio-Cortez said, “Organizing is about tipping people off if you start to see that ICE and CBP are in communities to try and keep people safe. I’m not here to reform some of these systems when we talk about immigration. I’m here because Senator Sanders has actually committed to breaking up ICE and CBP. That’s why I’m here.”
Sources <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sanders-campaign-not-happy-with-ocasio-cortezs-ice-comments-report-says">told</a> Vanity Fair this week that the campaign of Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who is also a socialist, was not happy with Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s remarks because even they thought she was going to far.
Former Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan slammed Ocasio-Cortez immediately following her remarks, saying that she was engaged in criminal activity by encouraging people to commit obstruction.
“ICE is keeping the community safe,” Homan continued. “It’s an incredibly stupid statement she made, which doesn’t surprise me because she’s about as far from smart as anybody could possibly be, but what she said is dangerous. These men and women put their lives on the line every day to arrest criminals off the streets, especially in New York.”
“My last year as ICE director, we took 5,000 criminals off the streets of New York,” Homan continued. “These ICE agents have done more to protect the residents of New York than she ever has done or ever will do.”
“It’s a dangerous statement, it’s idiotic, and I just can’t believe that she can stand up on stage and make a statement like that and not have any repercussions from the House Ethics Committee,” Homan continued. “They are trying to remove the president of the United States, a sitting president, and at the same time she’s saying ICE shouldn’t remove criminal aliens. They say the president is obstructing them, there’s no one that’s been obstructing more than Congress. They’ve been obstructing this president from day 1.”
“She’s standing on stage and telling people to give a heads up that the good guys are going to be arresting the bad guys in your neighborhood… that’s obstruction, that’s a crime,” Homan continued. “She’s disgusting, something needs to be done about it.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;She&#39;s about as far from smart as anybody can possibly be!&quot;
Retired ICE director Tom Homan absolutely eviscerates AOC for her &quot;dangerous&quot; &amp; &quot;idiotic&quot; attacks. She encouraged folks to tip each other off during ICE raids, which ends up protecting, in many cases, violent criminals. <a href="https://t.co/IlNOK4isI8">pic.twitter.com/IlNOK4isI8</a>
&mdash; (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1222020172778631168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This report has been updated to include additional information.

Immigrant Caravan Members Continue To Gather At U.S.-Mexico Border

BREAKING: Elite Border Patrol Tactical Agents Deploying To Sanctuary Cities In Crackdown

More than 1,500 criminal illegal aliens with active Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers were released from Orange County, California prisons over the past two years, many of whom re-offended after their release.
ICE issued <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/unimaginable-more-1500-aliens-ice-detainers-released-orange-county-jail-2019-many-re">a press release</a> that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) had confirmed that a California law passed two years ago (SB54) had created more crime in the state. Of the 1,500 released despite active retainers, more than 400 were re-arrested on charges including “rape, assault with a deadly weapon, child sex offenses, domestic violence, identify theft, and driving under the influence,” ICE reported.
The data from OCSD showed that in 2019, 1,507 inmates were released from the Orange County Jail even though they had active ICE detainers. Just 492 were released to ICE “upon completion of their local sentences in accordance with SB54 regulations.” The remaining 1,015 were released without informing ICE. Of those, 238 ended up committing additional crimes.
In 2018, ICE placed 1,823 detainers on inmates at the Orange County Jail, 823 of which were released to ICE in accordance with the new regulations. Of the 1,106 who were released without notification to ICE, 173 were re-arrested for additional crimes.
“SB 54 has made our community less safe. The law has resulted in new crimes because my deputies were unable to communicate with their federal partners about individuals who committed serious offenses and present a threat to our community if released,” said Don Barnes, Orange County’s Sheriff-Coroner. “The two-year social science experiment with sanctuary laws must end. Rather than protect our immigrant community, the law has enabled offenders to be released, often times back into the immigrant communities they prey upon, and create new victims.”
The OCSD data only collects information on released inmates who committed new crimes in Orange County, meaning some could have been released and committed crimes in other jurisdictions.
“I applaud Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes for his continued efforts to explain why these sanctuary policies do not make sense when it comes public safety. This is exactly what ICE has said time and again. These policies do nothing but ensure that criminals are released back into the community, where many re-offend, instead of being turned over to ICE. These are preventable crimes, and more importantly, preventable victims. As the data released by Sheriff Barnes clearly demonstrates, all communities are safer when local law enforcement works with ICE,” said Acting ICE Director Matthew T. Albence.
ICE has been working to ensure the public’s safety in the wake of liberal cities across the country introducing sanctuary laws that allow local police to refuse to work with the agency in deporting criminal aliens. In Cook County, Illinois, more than 1,000 ICE detainers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cook-county-ignored-more-than-1000-ice-detainers-in-fiscal-year-2019-allowing-repeat-offenders-to-roam-free">were ignored</a> in fiscal year 2019, allowing repeat offenders to go free. Also in Chicago, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chicago-police-officers-told-not-to-cooperate-with-dhs-on-immigration-issues-memo">a leaked memo</a> showed city police officers were told not to cooperate with ICE. In Virginia, a police officer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-officer-suspended-after-cooperating-with-ice">was suspended</a> after cooperating with ICE. In November, ICE managed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-arrests-illegal-alien-released-from-prison-despite-rape-charges">to arrest</a> an illegal alien who was released from prison despite rape charges.

criminal

ICE: 1,500 Criminal Aliens Released From California Prisons, ‘Many Re-Offended’

California

Crime

On Wednesday, Daily Wire Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer, a constitutional attorney by training who also frequently opines on issues pertaining to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-border-wall-nice-interior-enforcement-nicer-josh-hammer">immigration enforcement</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-federal-government-has-no-more-important-josh-hammer">border security</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEglbpSPJ2o&amp;feature=youtu.be">joined</a> &#8220;Tipping Point with Liz Wheeler&#8221; on One America News Network to discuss the latest immigration- and crime-related craziness to emerge from the sanctuary jurisdiction that is the state of California.
&#8220;Since California became a sanctuary state in 2017, the number of inmates with immigration detainers being arrested again after being released from jail has jumped, according to a new report from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes,&#8221; Los Angeles&#8217; local CBS affiliate <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/02/04/oc-sheriff-sb-54-sanctuary-state-law-repeat-crimes-increase-undocumented-immigrants/">reported</a> earlier this week. &#8220;According to Barnes, more than 1,500 inmates released in 2019 had ICE detainers, a request from the federal agency for notification that a particular inmate has been released. Of those inmates, 238 were re-arrested in Orange County for new crimes, including assault and battery, rape, and robbery.&#8221;
&#8220;The rate of recidivism for those with ICE detainers is up from 2018, when 123 were arrested again for new crimes, out of more than 1,800 such inmates, according to the report,&#8221; the outlet continued.
Hammer has been previously outspoken on the topic of sanctuary cities, opining in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-no-one-pointing-out-sanctuary-cities-josh-hammer">Daily Wire op-ed</a> last summer that the majority of sanctuary jurisdictions blatantly violate the text of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1373">8 U.S.C. § 1373(a)</a>, which reads: &#8220;Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.&#8221;
&#8220;The Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, as applied to § 1373(a), therefore prohibits state and local governments from shielding a removable illegal alien from ICE when ICE issues a detainer request on the alien,&#8221; Hammer wrote.
Joining Wheeler, Hammer decried the <a href="https://cis.org/Camarota/NonCitizens-Committed-Disproportionate-Share-Federal-Crimes-201116">disproportionately high rate of crime</a> for illegal aliens in America before making a similar legal point that he made in the Daily Wire op-ed. He accused sanctuary jurisdictions of adopting similar logic to that of the old Confederacy:
<blockquote>Very few people in the conservative punditry class are making this point, but my reading of federal law is that laws like California&#8217;s are blatantly illegal. If you look at title eight of the United States Code, section 1373, subsection (a), it says very clearly that no federal, state, or local government can &#8220;prohibit&#8221; or &#8220;restrict&#8221; sending any information to the Department of Homeland Security, which of course includes [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)]. Put another way, when ICE requests detainer information, these states cannot just refuse it. That is literally against the United States Code. And of course, that law is promulgated directly pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevi">Article VI of the Constitution</a>.
Liz your high school viewers might recall from civics class in high school: This was the entire so-called &#8220;nullification crisis&#8221; of the 1830s, with John C. Calhoun in South Carolina. And it&#8217;s the reason why, in my personal writings on this topic going back months, I always refer to the sanctuary jurisdictions as &#8220;neo-Confederate,&#8221; because it&#8217;s literally what&#8217;s going on here. They are adopting John C. Calhoun-esque, defying-federal law, Confederacy-style public policy and legal argumentation.</blockquote>
WATCH:
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Hammer OANN 2.05.19

WATCH: Hammer On ‘Tipping Point With Liz Wheeler’: Sanctuary Cities Are ‘Neo-Confederate’

confederate

Constitution

Department of Homeland Security

Immigration

Law Enforcement

Los Angeles

Police

&#8220;In both law and politics, I think the essential battle is the meta-battle of framing the narrative. As Sun Tzu said, every battle is won before it’s fought. It’s won by choosing the terrain on which it will be fought.&#8221; – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to The New Yorker&#8217;s Jeffrey Toobin, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/30/the-absolutist-2">June 2014</a>
Although President Donald Trump no doubt prefers to vent his off-the-cuff frustrations in tweet threads and campaign rallies, it is the planned teleprompter format in which he most clearly excels. Since assuming office, Trump&#8217;s State of the Union addresses have consistently been visceral, evocative, rhetorically fine-tune affairs that make brilliant use of audience guests to drive home his substantive agenda.
Last night&#8217;s speech was <a href="https://theresurgent.com/2020/02/04/best-state-of-the-union-ever/">no exception</a>, and the president was tremendously successful in framing the 2020 election as a stark choice between two competing visions of American governance: The economic prosperity, domestic security, and &#8220;peace through strength&#8221; deterrence of the Right, and the socialism, lawlessness, and capitulatory foreign policy of the Left. To borrow from Cruz&#8217;s quoting of Sun Tzu, Trump has &#8220;cho[sen] the terrain on which&#8221; the 2020 election &#8220;will be fought.&#8221;
The president <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/05/president-trump-offers-a-sharp-rebuke-of-socialism-at-precisely-the-right-time/">spoke at length</a> about the revving American economic engine, thus placing on the defensive the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-aocs-squad-will-destroy-democrats-2020-josh-hammer">toxic brand of socialism</a> that has come to dominate the modern Democratic Party. The Democrats are a political party with a <a href="https://www.predictit.org/markets/detail/3633/Who-will-win-the-2020-Democratic-presidential-nomination">statistical frontrunner</a> of a presidential nominee who is a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-bernie-sanders-entire-worldview-grotesquely-josh-hammer">lifelong communist activist</a> — a man who literally honeymooned in the Soviet Union and infamously hung a hammer-and-sickle Soviet flag inside his Burlington, Vermont mayoral office. They are advancing that nominee (and so many others who now mimic his economic illiteracy) in the context of an American electorate that, according to reliable pollster Gallup, is the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-are-more-optimistic-about-the-economy-than-they-have-been-in-decades">most optimistic</a> it has been about the economy in decades. Americans <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval_economy-6182.html">currently approve</a> of Trump&#8217;s handling of the economy by over 17%, and Democrats&#8217; solution for that is to stage a presidential primary where one of the leading &#8220;intellectual&#8221; debates among the candidates is whether to literally abolish private health insurance in favor of a government monopoly.
Good luck with that.
The president also spoke about the gruesome horrors of sanctuary cities, the great majority of which are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-no-one-pointing-out-sanctuary-cities-josh-hammer">clearly illegal</a> under a straightforward reading of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1373">8 U.S.C. § 1373(a)</a>: &#8220;Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.&#8221; The president masterfully provided gut-wrenching details of the crimes committed by illegal aliens mollycoddled by sanctuary jurisdictions — thus seemingly borrowing a tactic from Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, each of whom has at times provided vivid details of the underlying murders of those defendants whose capital punishment appeals reach the Court. Trump forced Democrats in the House chamber to retreat to the unenviable position of loudly booing his oratory assaults on criminal aliens and the sanctuary jurisdictions that harbor them. It was a remarkable sight to behold.
The president has thus successfully framed the 2020 election as a referendum about whether the nation will reject the Left&#8217;s two most profoundly ruinous current hobbyhorses: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-a-political-wish-for-2020-less-socialism-more-law-and-order">Socialism and lawlessness</a>. He also spoke directly to the heart and mind of the proverbial <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-who-will-stand-for-the-forgotten-american">forgotten American</a> — the tax-paying, church-attending, law-abiding American who still has an innate love and appreciation for what has always made America great. Say what one might about Trump, but one cannot plausibly deny that he is an &#8220;Americanist,&#8221; properly understood.
The American people will head to the ballot box this November with an exceedingly straightforward choice before them. Here is hoping they make the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-here-are-three-reasons-why-i-plan-vote-josh-hammer">right decision</a>.

President Trump Delivers State Of The Union Address

HAMMER: Trump Successfully Framed The Stark 2020 Election Choice During Last Night’s SOTU Address

2020 Election

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Clarence Thomas

Communism

Democratic Party

Economy

Qassem Soleimani

Radical Islam

On Saturday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continued its pushback against the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-no-one-pointing-out-sanctuary-cities-josh-hammer">lawless</a> scourge of sanctuary cities — this time focusing upon the particularly recalcitrant government of Mayor Bill de Blasio&#8217;s New York City.
ICE &#8220;served four immigration subpoenas Friday on the New York Department of Corrections (NYDOC) requesting information on multiple illegal aliens who were criminally arrested in New York City, and yet under New York’s non-cooperation policies officials have refused to honor ICE detainers or even provide ICE with information about the release dates of criminal alien public safety threats,&#8221; the agency stated via <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-issues-subpoenas-obtain-information-refused-under-ny-sanctuary-policies">press release</a>. &#8220;Issuance of these immigration subpoenas was necessary because the NYDOC has continued to ignore ICE’s requests for information and cooperation.&#8221;
&#8220;ICE uses statutorily-authorized immigration subpoenas to obtain information as part of investigations regarding potential removable aliens,&#8221; the release continued. &#8220;ICE has not historically needed to use its lawful authority to issue these subpoenas to obtain information from other law enforcement agencies as most law enforcement agencies throughout the country willingly provide ICE with information regarding aliens arrested for crimes in the interest of public safety.&#8221;
&#8220;ICE is using every tool available to obtain information regarding the whereabouts and other relevant information regarding removable aliens from jurisdictions that chose to, or are unable to, cooperate with ICE,&#8221; the agency wrote, before providing details about the four criminal aliens — ranging from age 21 to 38 — about whom it recently sought information from NYDOC.
&#8220;Like any law enforcement agency, we are used to modifying our tactics as criminals shift their strategies; but it’s disheartening that we must change our practices and jump through so many hoops with partners who are restricted by sanctuary laws passed by politicians with a dangerous agenda,&#8221; lamented Henry Lucero, acting deputy executive associate director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, as quoted in the ICE press release.
Just yesterday, The Daily Wire&#8217;s Hank Berrien <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-releases-list-of-9-violent-illegal-immigrants-freed-by-ny-sanctuary-policy-plus-6-more-who-could-be-released">reported</a> that ICE has also released a list of nine illegal aliens whom ICE claims have been &#8220;released in New York communities&#8221; due to the metropolis&#8217;s sanctuary policies. &#8220;ICE also named six additional illegal immigrants who may be released, some of whom have been charged with murder and child rape,&#8221; Berrien noted.
As <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ice-illegal-immigrants-freed-by-new-york-citys-sanctuary-city">reported</a> by Fox News, acting ICE Director Matthew Albence &#8220;cited statistics saying that last year ICE lodged 7,526 detainers via its New York field office. Those individuals accounted for 17,873 criminal convictions and 6,500 criminal charges. He went on to say that those charges and convictions include over 200 homicides, over 500 robberies, over 1,000 sexual offenses, over 1,000 weapons offenses, and over 3,500 assaults. However, only about 10 detainers were honored by the city, officials said.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-no-one-pointing-out-sanctuary-cities-josh-hammer">Daily Wire op-ed</a> last July, I argued that most sanctuary jurisdictions flagrantly violate federal law — and in particular, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1373">8 U.S.C. § 1373(a)</a>, which provides: &#8220;Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.&#8221; I opined:
<blockquote>It is true that the U.S. Supreme Court’s so-called “<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-supreme-court-reinforces-the-10th-amendment">anti-commandeering doctrine</a>,” most famously articulated in the 1992 case of <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1991/91-543">New York v. United States</a> and the 1997 case of <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1478">Printz v. United States</a>, stands for the proposition that the federal government cannot forcibly “commandeer” state governments to help the federal government enforce federal law. As Justice Scalia <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/95-1478.ZO.html">wrote in Printz</a>, “The Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States’ officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program.”
But a plain reading of 8 U.S.C. § 1373(a) does not seem to countenance a violation of the anti-commandeering doctrine. Under § 1373(a), state and local officials are not coerced into “enforc[ing] a federal regulatory program.” Rather, under the text of the statute, all state and local officials are prohibited from doing is issuing a “restrict[ion] [upon the] sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.” Put simply, the issue at hand in § 1373(a) is not federal commandeering of state actors to enforce a federal program; rather, the issue is the prevention of state and local officials from openly defying and subverting federal law. And the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause plainly forbids the states from openly defying and subverting federal law. The Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, as applied to § 1373(a), therefore prohibits state and local governments from shielding a removable illegal alien from ICE when ICE issues a detainer request on the alien.</blockquote>

Immigration and Customs Enforcement logo

ICE Hits Back, Issues Subpoenas Against Criminal Aliens In Sanctuary New York City

Bill de Blasio

Immigrants

New York City

New York Police Department (NYPD)

[This piece has been updated to include broader information about Standish’s lecture. A parenthetical has been inserted into the body of the article, and Standish’s reply to my email has been added at the bottom. The title has also been altered.]
In October, Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, hosted a lecture by James Standish, who “most recently served as the communications director for the South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists,” according to the university’s <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/agenda/53632">website</a>.
Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist college. Though students were not required to attend Standish’s lecture, they are <a href="https://cmspreview.andrews.edu/services/studentlife/cocurriculum/attendance_accountability.html">required</a> to “attend 30 co-curricular programs a semester,” of which Standish’s lecture was one of many.
During the latter portion of his lecture, Standish called for students to offer their churches as “sanctuaries” for illegal immigrants.
“In the United States, we have a lot of people who are looking for a home. Many of them have found a home here in the United States, but they face constant danger of being deported,” Standish said in a video available on Andrews University’s YouTube channel, as reported by <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14056">Campus Reform</a>.
After noting that he himself is an immigrant, he said that many other immigrants (legal  and illegal) don’t have the ability to successfully engage in the “complicated &#8230; system.”
“Many of the people who are now undocumented could have regularized their citizenship at one point or another if they were like me, a lawyer, and understood the system, they had money for a lawyer, if they spoke English better, had greater facility, a thousand things – but they were poor. Not all of them, but many,” Standish stated.
“They didn&#8217;t do something that&#8217;s a crime of evil or hatred. They just wanted to stay here and build their lives, and for many years they went ahead and built those lives,” he added.
Standish then spoke about the “beautiful, wonderful, amazing” illegal immigrants who allegedly approach him after he gives lectures, and suggested that aside from “animus,” there is no reason the United States should be deporting them.
He said that he was approached by a “church entity” to take a look at the law in light of “members being deported.”
<blockquote>A church entity asked me to look into this because of our members being deported, and one of the things I found is [that the United States] ICE service has a policy, and it&#8217;s actually a policy formed from the Bible, believe it or not. You see in the Bible, there is something called sanctuary cities. Then, in the English Common Law, they developed that to have a sanctuary within a church for people who were accused of a crime. And today, except in unusual circumstances, ICE will not raid a church&#8230;
This is my challenge to you. Why not open up your church as a sanctuary? Why not say to people who have good reason to be afraid, &#8220;If you are afraid, come and live in our church. We will turn our sanctuary into a real sanctuary.&#8221;
&#8230;People are being hurt right now across this country. Many of them are our brothers and our sisters, and we stand by with our churches empty when they could be sanctuary sanctuaries.</blockquote>
[It should be noted that this was only a portion of a longer lecture pertaining to living one’s Christian faith. Standish also talked about the horrors of abortion, as well as extreme poverty. This is to say that his “conclusion” in which the Underground Railroad and Nazi Germany are discussed, which you will read below, encompasses not only his position on illegal immigration, but on the other topics discussed earlier in his lecture]
Standish concluded by seemingly making a comparison between silence on the illegal immigrant issue (as well as what he discussed prior) to that of silence regarding segregation, slavery, and Nazi Germany:
<blockquote>Conclusion – many of us look back on history and we say if we were alive during the time of the slave time, we would’ve been part of the Underground Railroad. &#8220;Oh yeah, that&#8217;d be me.&#8221; Really? Would you? You could lose your house; you could go to jail. Are you serious? Would you do that?&#8230;
You would say, &#8220;Hey, but during the Nazis &#8230; I would have been rescuing Jews.” Would you? Would you really? And risk being hauled out by the Gestapo? Sent to a concentration camp yourself? Would you do it?</blockquote>
Standish added that people always say they would have “looked down the police dogs and &#8230; taken the fire hoses” if they were in the 1960s with Martin Luther King Jr.
“Would you? Honestly, look at yourself in your hearts, and if you wouldn’t, and if you couldn’t, if you refused to, what does your Christianity mean?” he asked.
<blockquote>And if you’re silent now, mark my words, you would’ve been silent then when the stakes were a lot higher. Don’t kid yourself.</blockquote>
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jns9IOoZmNs?start=1595" width="720" height="385" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">﻿</iframe>
According to one of the <a href="https://www.ice.gov/ero/enforcement/sensitive-loc">FAQ sections</a> of the official ICE website, “places of worship, such as churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples” are considered “sensitive locations.”
“Enforcement actions,” in which ICE will typically not engage in a sensitive location, include “apprehensions, arrests, interviews, or searches, and for purposes of immigration enforcement only, surveillance.”
Regarding enforcement actions at “sensitive locations,” the FAQ states: “Enforcement actions may occur at sensitive locations in limited circumstances, but will generally be avoided. ICE officers and agents may conduct an enforcement action at a sensitive location if there are exigent circumstances, if other law enforcement actions have led officers to a sensitive location, or with prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official.”
The Daily Wire reached out to James Standish via social media to ask him if he believes it was appropriate to evoke Nazi Germany and the Underground Railroad in order to draw a moral parallel to the plight faced by undocumented immigrants and those who could shelter them.
Standish replied:
<blockquote>Thanks for your note. I admire your stated desire to spark “intellectually honest” discussion. My suggestion is that you watch the speech – it only takes half an hour. As you’ll see, the current headline is misleading. It is far easier to proclaim intellectual honesty than to practice it, but if you desire to do so, you’ll edit the headline.</blockquote>
Although I had indeed watched the speech in full, I rewatched it in order to note any potential blind spots in my reporting. While I don’t believe my headline was “misleading,” I will give Standish the benefit of the doubt, given that his lecture was about more than illegal immigrants. As such, I have altered the title of the piece to allow readers to decide for themselves the appropriateness of Standish’s language choices in his conclusion.
I have also included a parenthetical before the “conclusion” portion noting the wider array of topics discussed in the lecture.

Migrants.

WATCH: Lecturer At Andrews University Suggests Students Make Their Churches ‘Sanctuaries’ For Illegal Immigrants

Christianity

Enforcement (ICE)

Nazi Germany

An illegal alien has been arrested in Montgomery County, Maryland, for alleged sex crimes. This is the seventh such case involving an illegal alien since the end of July.
&#8220;Emilio Carrasco-Hernandez, 37, of Hyattsville, is currently charged with second-degree rape, sex abuse of a minor, third-degree sex offense and fourth-degree sex offense,&#8221; ABC 7&#8217;s Kevin Lewis <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/man-rape-15-year-old-md-girl-suspect-repeat-immigration-violator">reported</a>. &#8220;According to ICE, Carrasco-Hernandez is a Honduran national living in the U.S. illegally. In April 2017, a federal immigration judge deported the then 35-year-old. He later illegally re-entered the U.S. on an unknown date and by unknown means.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">NEW: 37yo Emilio Carrasco-Hernandez raped a 15yo girl in a Silver Spring home they shared, cops say.
The victim had &#8220;stinging&#8221; pain after the attack.
This is at least the seventh undocumented immigrant arrested in Montgomery County, Md. on rape/sex abuse charges since July 25. <a href="https://t.co/Twu3xw7n9w">pic.twitter.com/Twu3xw7n9w</a>
— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC7Kevin/status/1167791863681695750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Lewis has reported extensively on crimes perpetrated by illegal aliens in Montgomery County, which also has a heavy presence of MS-13 gang activity.
Late this week, Lewis reported that Nestor Lopez-Guzman, a 21-year-old Salvadoran national illegally residing in the U.S., had allegedly molested a 12-year-old girl and her younger brother.
Lopez-Guzman reportedly told authorities that touching a young boy&#8217;s genitals was a &#8220;cultural joke&#8221; and that it was &#8220;common in El Salvador.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">MORE: According to detectives, Lopez-Guzman confessed to touching the elementary school-age boy&#8217;s genitals, claiming it was a &#8220;cultural joke&#8221; that&#8217;s &#8220;common in El Salvador.&#8221;
Lopez-Guzman said it&#8217;s a way for men to poke fun at one another.
The 21yo is out on bond awaiting trial. <a href="https://t.co/Xvg4l0dkCK">pic.twitter.com/Xvg4l0dkCK</a>
— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC7Kevin/status/1167101531298119680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
&#8220;Since July 25, Montgomery County Police have arrested at least seven confirmed undocumented immigrants for alleged rapes and sexual assaults,&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-immigrant-rape-seventh-six-weeks">reported</a>. &#8220;Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich signed an executive order last month designating the county a &#8216;sanctuary&#8217; jurisdiction.&#8221;
The executive order prohibits all county agencies and law enforcement officials from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Usually, the only areas that are designated as &#8216;sanctuaries&#8217; are controlled by Democrats, which oftentimes puts the public in harm&#8217;s way because offenders are released into the public versus being deported.
One of the more heinous stories that Lewis reported on over the last month involved two illegal aliens who allegedly raped a young girl.
&#8220;29yo Mauricio Berrera-Navidad of Damascus, Md. + 28yo Carlos Palacios-Amaya of Gaithersburg, Md. are accused of raping an 11-year-old Germantown, Md. girl,&#8221; Lewis tweeted. &#8220;MoCo Police say the men (both friends with the victim&#8217;s older brother) committed the rapes on separate occasions.&#8221;
&#8220;One suspect orally, vaginally and anally raped the middle schooler on multiple occasions, authorities allege,&#8221; Lewis added. &#8220;The victim recalled one instance where that same suspect &#8216;used his cell phone to video record the two of them having sex,&#8217; police noted.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">STORY: One suspect orally, vaginally and anally raped the middle schooler on multiple occasions, authorities allege.
The victim recalled one instance where that same suspect &#8220;used his cell phone to video record the two of them having sex,&#8221; police noted.<a href="https://t.co/GyiCuwwt0B">https://t.co/GyiCuwwt0B</a>
— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC7Kevin/status/1161297587384782848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>

MEXICO-US-BORDER-WALL

Seventh Illegal Alien Accused Of Sex Crime In Sanctuary County Over Last Month

Securing the nation&#8217;s borders and protecting the nation&#8217;s sovereignty against those who would violate it is, perhaps above anything else, the singular <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/48335/hammer-federal-government-has-no-more-important-josh-hammer">most important function of the federal government</a>. After all, in the 2012 Supreme Court case of Arizona v. United States, Justice Antonin Scalia powerfully <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/11-182">described</a> &#8220;the power to exclude from the sovereign’s territory people who have no right to be there&#8221; as &#8220;the defining characteristic of sovereignty.&#8221; Illegal immigration, furthermore, manifests itself across <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49616/hammer-why-no-one-discussing-drug-trafficking-josh-hammer">countless issues</a> affecting the body politic: National security, crime, drugs, public health, cultural assimilation, and the health of the public fisc.
But what happens when the federal government&#8217;s unwillingness to defend its sovereignty is coupled with the federal government&#8217;s unwillingness to defend the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevi">Supremacy Clause of Article VI</a> of the U.S. Constitution — that the &#8220;Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof &#8230; shall be the supreme law of the land?&#8221;
Every single day across America, sundry sanctuary jurisdictions harbor illegal aliens — often violent <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/ice-guard-dangerous-drunk-driving/">criminal</a> ones — and fail to honor <a href="https://www.ice.gov/detainers">detainer requests</a> from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As ICE explains on its <a href="https://www.ice.gov/detainers">website</a>, detainers &#8220;provide notice of [ICE&#8217;s] intent to assume custody of an individual detained in federal, state, or local custody&#8221; and are typically &#8220;placed on aliens arrested on criminal charges for whom ICE possesses probable cause to believe &#8230; are removable from the United States.&#8221; The results of local law enforcement agencies failing to honor ICE detainers, from a public safety and sovereignty protection perspective, are often <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/despite-horrific-bambi-larson-murder-santa-clara-county-continuing-sanctuary-status/">predictably disastrous</a>. But what seems to be an under-covered aspect of the sanctuary cities phenomenon is how blatantly illegal the practice is under existing federal statute.
As Daniel Horowitz helpfully <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/oregon-sanctuaries-force-ice-apprehend-alleged-child-sex-offender-courthouse/">points out</a> at Conservative Review, it is imperative to consider the text of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1373">8 U.S.C. § 1373(a)</a>:
<blockquote>Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.</blockquote>
It is true that the U.S. Supreme Court&#8217;s so-called &#8220;<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-supreme-court-reinforces-the-10th-amendment">anti-commandeering doctrine</a>,&#8221; most famously articulated in the 1992 case of <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1991/91-543">New York v. United States</a> and the 1997 case of <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1478">Printz v. United States</a>, stands for the proposition that the federal government cannot forcibly &#8220;commandeer&#8221; state governments to help the federal government enforce federal law. As Justice Scalia <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/95-1478.ZO.html">wrote in Printz</a>, &#8220;The Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States’ officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program.&#8221;
But a plain reading of 8 U.S.C. § 1373(a) does not seem to countenance a violation of the anti-commandeering doctrine. Under § 1373(a), state and local officials are not coerced into &#8220;enforc[ing] a federal regulatory program.&#8221; Rather, under the text of the statute, all state and local officials are prohibited from doing is issuing a &#8220;restrict[ion] [upon the] sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.&#8221; Put simply, the issue at hand in § 1373(a) is not federal commandeering of state actors to enforce a federal program; rather, the issue is the prevention of state and local officials from openly defying and subverting federal law. And the Constitution&#8217;s Supremacy Clause plainly forbids the states from openly defying and subverting federal law. The Constitution&#8217;s Supremacy Clause, as applied to § 1373(a), therefore prohibits state and local governments from shielding a removable illegal alien from ICE when ICE issues a detainer request on the alien.
The Trump administration, despite a <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-has-not-built-a-single-mile-of-new-border-fence-after-30-months-in-office">mixed (at best) record</a> on actually effectuating the president&#8217;s signature campaign item and building the wall, is now doubling down and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/finish-that-wall-trump-seeks-to-turn-his-failure-to-build-the-wall-into-campaign-rallying-cry/2019/02/16/3fbaebd4-3138-11e9-ac6c-14eea99d5e24_story.html">campaigning hard on the immigration issue</a> in advance of the president&#8217;s 2020 re-election campaign. As both a political and a policy matter, wouldn&#8217;t it then make sense for the administration to actually try to enforce federal law that is already on the books against the pervasive problem of sanctuary city malfeasance?

HAMMER: Why Is No One Pointing Out That Sanctuary Cities Blatantly Violate This Federal Law?

Department of Justice

Southern Border

Supreme Court

Trump Administration

Fulfilling a promise he made when he successfully campaigned for governor in 2018, on Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will sign into law a bill that will ban sanctuary cities in Florida. The bill, which was passed on May 2 by both the Florida House and Senate, was sent to DeSantis on Thursday.
<a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-desantis-sanctuary-cities-signing-20190613-dijvph4ewbhn5pqnnb2ew4ygta-story.html">The Orlando Sentinel</a> reported that DeSantis spokeswoman Helen Ferre sent the Sentinel an email stating: &#8220;Earlier this year, Governor DeSantis asked the Florida Legislature to present him with meaningful legislation to uphold the rule of law and ensure that no city or county jurisdiction can get in the way of Florida&#8217;s cooperation with our federal partners to enforce immigration law. Public safety is paramount and local law enforcement agencies can and should work with the federal government to ensure that accountability and justice are one in our state.&#8221;
The Sentinel noted that supporters of the bill have urged local governments and law-enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration detainers and share information with federal immigration authorities once illegal immigrants have been detained.
The bill, <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2019/168/BillText/er/PDF">SB 168</a>, flatly states, &#8220;A state entity, law enforcement agency, or local governmental entity may not adopt or have in effect a sanctuary policy.&#8221;
The bill explains exactly what that entails:
<blockquote>
&#8220;Sanctuary policy&#8221; means a law, policy, practice, procedure, or custom adopted or allowed by a state entity or local governmental entity which prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from complying with 8 U.S.C. s. 1373 or which prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from communicating or cooperating with a federal immigration agency so as to limit such law enforcement agency in, or prohibit the agency from:
(a) Complying with an immigration detainer;
(b) Complying with a request from a federal immigration agency to notify the agency before the release of an inmate or detainee in the custody of the law enforcement agency;
(c) Providing a federal immigration agency access to an inmate for interview;
(d) Participating in any program or agreement authorized under section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. s. 1357; or
(e) Providing a federal immigration agency with an inmate&#8217;s incarceration status or release date.
</blockquote>
In May, DeSantis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/47372/desantis-warns-dont-drop-illegal-immigrants-hank-berrien">warned</a> the U.S. Border Patrol not to transfer illegal immigrants to Broward and Palm Beach counties. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and Broward Mayor Mark Bogen had stated that U.S. Border Patrol said that two planeloads of immigrants would be transferred to those counties each week, roughly 500 per month to each county. DeSantis said he was going to communicate with President Trump, according to the <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/fl-ne-ron-desantis-oppose-migrants-south-florida-20190517-st5bey2pofgdlmij7uommyyugq-story.html">Orlando Sentinel</a>, asserting, &#8220;Nothing&#8217;s concrete. There&#8217;s been no migrants brought, released, in Florida. This was not something that came down from the White House. This is something that came out of the agency. Sometimes this stuff happens. Ultimately this is something I&#8217;m going to have to talk to the president about. We cannot accommodate in Florida just dumping unlawful migrants into our state. I think it&#8217;ll tax our resources, schools and health care, law enforcement, state agencies.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-gov-ron-desantis-expected-to-sign-measure-banning-sanctuary-cities-on-friday">Fox News</a> noted, &#8220;Nine states &#8212; they are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas &#8212; have passed laws requiring law enforcement to cooperate with ICE.&#8221;

DeSantis Follows Through: Will Sign Bill Today Banning Sanctuary Cities

Ron DeSantis

It might surprise many Americans to learn that, per <a href="https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/annual-reports-and-sourcebooks/2018/FY18-Annual-Report-and-Sourcebook.pdf">Department of Justice statistics</a>, a whopping 43% of all federal offenses are committed by non-citizens. Tragically, as then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/dhs-doj-report-thousands-of-avoidable-crimes-committed-by-foreign-nationals-in-texas-alone/">put it last year</a>, every single crime committed by an illegal alien is, by definition, a readily preventable crime:
<blockquote>
Every crime committed by an illegal alien is, by definition, a crime that should have been prevented. It is outrageous that tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year because of the drugs and violence brought over our borders illegally and that taxpayers have been forced, year after year, to pay millions of dollars to incarcerate tens of thousands of illegal aliens.
</blockquote>
As The Daily Wire has recently <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/47569/teenage-girl-kidnapping-suspect-seattle-suburb-josh-hammer">reported</a>, the state of Washington has been experiencing an upsurge in crime committed by illegal aliens. Earlier this month, The Seattle Times <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/burien-man-charged-with-luring-and-assault-accused-of-trying-to-drag-a-14-year-old-girl-into-his-pickup">noted</a> how a 51-year-old Seattle-area man charged with luring and second-degree assault after he allegedly tried to force a 14-year-old girl into his pickup truck turned out to be a twice-deported illegal alien. Seattle-based radio host Dori Monson <a href="https://mynorthwest.com/1390219/dori-illegal-immigrant-burien-girl/">opined</a> on the lawless sanctuary city laws that mollycoddle criminal aliens throughout Washington state:
<blockquote>
We have the most lax laws. We are attracting drug vagrants, and we are attracting illegal immigrants. We are seeing the ramifications of it on the streets with all of the women who are being sexually assaulted, from the woman at the Ballard car dealership to Kelly Herron at Golden Gardens, to this teenage girl in Burien.
Washington is the best place to be if you&#8217;re an illegal immigrant. We&#8217;ve got sanctuary everything and a governor who tells you you&#8217;re a pillar of the community when you come into this country illegally and commit crimes. What a great place to come and abduct 14-year-old girls.
</blockquote>
Now, as The Daily Caller <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/23/washington-sanctuary-inslee-2020/">reported</a> last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken it upon itself to hone its crosshairs upon and utterly excoriate Washington state&#8217;s lax sanctuary city regime:
<blockquote>
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ripped Washington for becoming the latest state to enact policies that protect illegal immigrants from local law enforcement and federal authorities.
&#8220;ICE maintains that cooperation by local law enforcement is an indispensable component of promoting public safety. It&#8217;s unfortunate that current local and state laws and policies tie the hands of local law enforcement agencies that want and need to work with ICE to promote public safety by holding criminals accountable and providing justice and closure for their victims,&#8221; the agency said Thursday in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation. &#8230;
&#8220;Sanctuary policies not only provide a refuge for illegal aliens, but they also shield criminal aliens who prey on people in their own and other communities,&#8221; ICE stated. &#8220;When ICE officers and agents have to go out into the community to proactively locate these aliens, it puts personnel and potentially innocent bystanders at risk.&#8221;
</blockquote>
According to The Daily Caller, &#8220;The newly-enacted legislation largely prohibits local law enforcement from asking about an individual&#8217;s immigration status or place of birth, with an exception if it pertains to a criminal investigation.&#8221;

ICE Tears Into Washington State For Enacting Sanctuary City Policies

Washington

According to a new <a href="https://www.advancingjustice-alc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SB54-Report_FINAL.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1g53GfWV6tt5qdd1qI4_I5uZ4zF89iMQk4fDkaiP3oqQNd8jCQBnb0HpM">study</a> from the Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus and the University of Oxford Centre for Criminology-Border Criminologies, California&#8217;s implementation of its &#8220;California Values Act&#8221; sanctuary cities law is not going particularly well. In fact, sheriffs in roughly half the state&#8217;s jurisdictions are actively resisting enforcement of the measure.
Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/resist-calif-cops-sheriffs-ignoring-new-sanctuary-law-blocking-help-for-ice">reports</a>:
<blockquote>
Nearly half of California sheriff departments are protesting a new California law that bars them from helping federal immigration officials find criminal illegal immigrants, according to a new report.
What&#8217;s more, several of the 169 law enforcement agencies in California are challenging former Gov. Jerry Brown&#8217;s bid to hide criminal illegals by letting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to seize the wanted prisoners for deportation and not telling the state. &#8230;
The report from the University of Oxford Centre for Criminology-Border Criminologies reveals what many law enforcement agencies are doing to get around the law. The report is critical of those moves and calls on the state to crack down on agencies that help ICE to find and remove criminal illegals.
</blockquote>
Specifically, according to Bedard, 68 out of 169 sheriff departments considered by the study &#8212; about 40% &#8212; were not in compliance.
Nonetheless, despite nearly half of all sheriff departments not fully complying, the Oxford study still reports that, &#8220;In its first five months from January 2018 to May 2018, [California Values Act] implementation led to a 41% decrease in ICE arrests at local jails compared to the immediately preceding five months from August 2017 to December 2017.&#8221;
The study&#8217;s <a href="https://www.advancingjustice-alc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SB54-Report_FINAL.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1g53GfWV6tt5qdd1qI4_I5uZ4zF89iMQk4fDkaiP3oqQNd8jCQBnb0HpM">conclusion</a> took direct aim at the resisting California sheriffs:
<blockquote>
The California Values Act is one of the most expansive sanctuary laws in the country. As a result of implementation of this new law, there has been a notable drop in [law enforcement agency (LEA)]-assisted [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Customs and Border Protection] arrests in the state, especially when compared to anti-sanctuary states such as Texas. However, there is much work to be done by the State to bring LEAs into full compliance with SB 54 and to ensure that the law is not undermined through the exploitation of its policy exceptions. At a time when the federal administration has been hostile to immigrant communities and has ramped up immigration arrests, detentions, and deportations, it is imperative that Californians are confident that their local, county, and state government will not work to deport them, their family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.
</blockquote>
Nonetheless, Dan Cadman of the conservative Center Immigration Studies had a <a href="https://cis.org/Cadman/Report-Californias-Sanctuary-Law-Bemoans-Noncompliance">different take</a>:
<blockquote>
The practical effects of the [California Values Act] have been disastrous. Many individuals have been needlessly injured or murdered by aliens released to the street by misguided enforcement organizations in the state. Some of the circumstances involved have been brutal and horrific.
Sadly, a number of those slain by illegal aliens released to the streets have been police officers and sheriff&#8217;s deputies (see, e.g., here, and here). Some other lucky few officers have escaped with their lives. One of the illegal aliens (with a long history of prior drug convictions), who was later arrested and tried for the murders, profanely declared he didn&#8217;t &#8220;f-ing regret it&#8221; and went on to threaten the jurors. &#8230;
Bravo! I hope [resisting LEAs] keep on doing it, and that more join them. What&#8217;s that motto on the side of many police cars? Oh, that&#8217;s right, it&#8217;s &#8220;To Serve and Protect&#8221;. What better way to do that than to see alien criminals removed from American communities, instead of releasing them to offend again.
</blockquote>
There is presently an &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45305/huh-border-patrol-stops-prosecuting-first-time-josh-hammer">unprecedented</a>&#8221; migrant influx at the U.S.&#8217;s southern border. President Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45394/hammer-trump-would-be-right-fully-shut-down-us-josh-hammer">threatened</a> to fully close the border in order to attempt to stanch the problem.

Report: Nearly Half Of California Sheriff Departments Are Resisting The State’s Sanctuary Cities Law

More than 20 illegal immigrants were arrested in New York last month by federal officials working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), many for violent crimes. An ICE official blamed some of the arrests on New York City&#8217;s &#8220;sanctuary&#8221; policies, though many of the arrests occurred outside the city.
Deportation officers for ICE&#8217;s Enforcement and Removal Office (ERO) working out of the New York Field Office made the arrest, according to <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-more-20-released-new-york-after-detainers-ignored">a press release</a> from the agency, which called &#8220;sanctuary city politics&#8221; unsafe.
&#8220;The sanctuary city politics of this city continue to put the safety of New York residents at risk,&#8221; Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO NY, said in the press release. &#8220;We need our elected officials to stop the rhetoric. The fact remains that ICE makes this city safer by removing criminal aliens and public threats off the street so they are unable to reoffend, victimizing our city residents.&#8221;
The agency listed 12 examples of the crimes the illegal immigrants committed, many including violent acts. A Guyanese national was arrested in the Bronx for &#8220;Assault 2nd, Assault 3rd, Reckless Endangerment, Menacing, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon.&#8221; A Mexican national was arrested for robbery. A Spanish national was arrested for assault, harassment, menacing, and possession of stolen property. Another Mexican national was arrested in Manhattan for assault and &#8220;criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation.&#8221; Another Mexican national was arrested in Kew Gardens for assault, injuring an 11-year-old, and harassment. A Colombian national was arrested in Kew Gardens for strangulation, assault, and harassment. A Guatemalan national was arrested in Spring Valley for rape. A Salvadoran national, associated with the violent MS-13 gang, was arrested for DWI (flashback to when Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey said illegal aliens <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43506/watch-bob-menendez-doesnt-think-illegal-immigrants-ashe-schow">shouldn&#8217;t be deported</a> for driving while intoxicated). Another Colombian national was arrested for assault and intent to cause serious physical injury.
Other examples include drug and tax fraud crimes.
In each case, a detainer was issued for the illegal immigrant, yet it was not &#8220;honored,&#8221; and the illegal immigrants were released by local law enforcement, according to the press release.
The press release also included some frightening statistics for the New York Field Office, which covers the &#8220;southernmost 14 counties of New York State.&#8221;
The office made 3,400 arrests in Fiscal Year 2018, and 87% of those arrested had a prior criminal conviction or had criminal charges pending.
In December 2018, ICE conducted a five-day operation in New Jersey that resulted in 105 foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/39188/massive-ice-bust-illegal-aliens-nabs-child-abusers-ashe-schow">being taken into custody</a>. Around 80% of those taken into custody had prior criminal convictions or pending charges, according to ICE. Examples of those individuals also included many arrested for violent crime, child abuse, and internationally wanted criminals, The Daily Wire previously reported.
&#8220;These outstanding results, which were made possible by our officers and law enforcement partners, highlight the tremendous commitment that ICE ERO has to public safety throughout the state,&#8221; John Tsoukaris, Field Office Director of ERO Newark, said in a press release at the time. &#8220;Our focus has been and will continue to be on arrests of illegal aliens who have been convicted of serious crimes or those who pose a threat to public safety.&#8221;
Democrats, including some from the New York delegation, have called for congress to abolish ICE.
Correction: An earlier version of this article was misworded, wrongfully suggesting New York City officials who made the arrest. It was federal officials working for ICE&#8217;s New York Field Office. The original article&#8217;s lede also suggested the illegal immigrants were released &#8220;thanks to the city&#8217;s sanctuary policies.&#8221; While some of the criminals were arrested in New York City, many were arrested in other counties, as the article noted later.

ICE Officials In New York Arrested More Than 20 Illegal Immigrants After Sanctuary City Policies Released Them

New York

In one of his last speeches as governor of California, Democrat Jerry Brown hit back at critics of his pet &#8220;sanctuary state&#8221; legislation who blame the now-former governor&#8217;s lenient immigration policies for the tragic shooting death of police officer Ronil Singh.
Singh was killed during a routine traffic stop in late December. Singh, a legal immigrant, pulled over a driver he suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, only to find the driver, Gustavo Perez Arriaga, was armed. Arriaga opened fire, killing Singh, and then fled, leading California authorities on a two-day cross-state manhunt.
Arriaga, who was eventually captured along with seven other people who aided and abetted him in eluding police, is an illegal immigrant who was allowed to stay in the state, reportedly because of Brown&#8217;s &#8220;sanctuary state&#8221; policies, even after several arrests and at least two separate DUI convictions, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/jerry-brown-death-of-police-officer-ronil-singh-had-nothing-to-do-with-californias-sanctuary-status">according to the Washington Examiner</a>.
Brown, who has been open about his own pro-immigration sentiments, called the suggestion that Singh died as a result of his &#8220;sanctuary&#8221; policies, a distraction.
&#8220;I think people now are looking to blame somebody because of the terrible things that happened,&#8221; Brown told media, &#8220;but it had nothing to do with the law of California.&#8221;
That&#8217;s not how the law enforcement officials involved in investigating Singh&#8217;s death and bringing his alleged killer to justice see it. Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, who was in charge of the investigation, was clear in the wake of Arriaga&#8217;s capture &#8212; in the absence of Brown&#8217;s sanctuary state policies, Arriaga would not have been returned to the streets following his several run-ins with police.
&#8220;This is a criminal illegal alien with prior criminal activity that should have been reported to ICE,&#8221; the sheriff told a press conference last week. &#8220;We were prohibited, law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws, and that led to the encounter with Singh.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m suggesting that the outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasn&#8217;t restricted, prohibited or had their hands tied because of political interference,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;Why are we providing sanctuary for criminals, gang members?&#8221; the sheriff concluded. &#8220;It&#8217;s a conversation we need to have.&#8221;
Christanson pointed directly to a state-level policy that he says &#8220;tied law enforcement&#8217;s hands&#8221; when dealing with Arriaga, even though Arriaga had multiple arrests, had been in jail several times, and had two previous convictions for driving under the influence.
Brown contends that his sanctuary policies allow illegal immigrants, who are themselves the victims of crimes, to feel safe in reporting those crimes to police.
Brown packed up and left the California governor&#8217;s office on Monday, ceding the post to former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. Brown&#8217;s only advice for the incoming Newsom during the Monday morning transition of power was, &#8220;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/07/682722290/passing-the-torch-california-gov-jerry-brown-tells-newsom-don-t-screw-it-up">don&#8217;t screw it up</a>.&#8221;

Outgoing California Gov. Jerry Brown Claims Sanctuary State Policy Had Nothing To Do With Cop Killing

Jerry Brown

In the still of the last night of 2018, the silence of California Dems chilled the air and airwaves.
Border wall opponent Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted three times between Christmas and New Year&#8217;s Eve bemoaning the plight of illegal immigrants and their children.
But not a peep was heard from Harris about the brutal shooting death of Newman, California, Police Department Cpl. Ronil Singh at the hands of a Mexican gang member illegally in the country and protected by the very sanctuary policies Harris champions.
Border wall opponent Rep. Nancy Pelosi decried the deaths of two illegal immigrant children on the same day Singh was murdered, bashed the government shutdown and, on New Year&#8217;s Eve, promoted her upcoming MSNBC special.
But not a peep was heard from Pelosi about Singh, the suspected illegal immigrant murderer, or the arrests of a total of seven alleged accomplices &#8212; all reported to be illegally in this country as well.
Border wall opponent Sen. Dianne Feinstein released a public letter to the Customs and Border Patrol agency on the day of Singh&#8217;s murder to voice her &#8220;strong concern about the recent deaths and illnesses of children detained in Border Patrol custody, and to request a full accounting and a revised protocol to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.&#8221;
But not a peep was heard from Feinstein about Singh, no call for investigation of how the suspected murderer and his alleged accomplices arrived in the U.S., were able to evade arrest and detection, and who employed them, and aided, abetted, and sheltered them.
Neighbors, friends and co-workers turned out in full force for a candlelight vigil this week memorializing the dedicated, patriotic, compassionate, hard-working husband and father of a 5-month-old baby. But rabble-rousing liberal politicians, so quick to rush down to the border to exploit the migrant caravan crisis and sabotage President Donald Trump&#8217;s efforts to keep America safe, were nowhere to be found.
How could any decent citizen not be moved by Reggie Singh, who broke down in tears while expressing thanks to local, state and federal officers upon the arrest of his hero brother&#8217;s suspected murderer after an intense multiagency manhunt?
How could any public servant not be outraged by the revelations of Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, who reported that Ronil Singh&#8217;s suspected murderer from Mexico had worked illegally as a laborer, had known gang affiliations, and had two prior drunk driving arrests before the fatal traffic stop and attempted escape back to Mexico.
California&#8217;s sanctuary laws, supported by every California Democrat and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, barred local authorities from reporting the alleged cop-killer for his prior criminal arrests to ICE.
The priorities couldn&#8217;t be starker: Open borders Democratic hearts bleed for those bent on undermining our sovereignty, while they turn blind eyes to legal immigrants like Indo-American Singh, originally from Fiji, who honored our institutions and enforced our laws.
Newman Police Chief Randy Richardson paid tribute to his friend and employee: &#8220;This is a man that loved his country. This is a man that worked hard for what he believed in. He believed in this community.&#8221;
Singh was the true story of the American dream, brought down by the ongoing open borders nightmare. He cherished his family roots and heritage, but embraced the privileges and responsibilities of legally obtained citizenship as a fully assimilated American. And this is precisely why California Democrats won&#8217;t say his name, acknowledge his sacrifice or investigate the policy failures that led to his death.
The silent Dems have spent 30 years obliterating the difference between legal and illegal immigration.
They&#8217;ve spent every waking moment since President Trump took office denying the chaotic consequences of sanctuary policies.
They&#8217;ve spent the past year demonizing law enforcement officers at both borders and across the interior, stoking fear and hatred of those who put their lives on the line 24/7/365.
To speak Cpl. Ronil Singh&#8217;s name is to admit the blood on their own hands.
Michelle Malkin is host of &#8220;Michelle Malkin Investigates&#8221; on CRTV.com. Her email address is writemalkin@gmail.com. To find out more about Michelle Malkin and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

MALKIN: Say His Name: RIP Cpl. Ronil Singh

Dianne Feinstein

Kamala Harris

Nancy Pelosi

Seven additional men have been arrested in connection with the murder of Newman, California, Police officer Ronil Singh, for helping suspect Gustavo Perez Arriaga try to flee into Mexico, authorities say.
<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-accused-killing-northern-california-police-officer-ronil/story?id=60048463">ABC News reports</a> that Arriaga was hoping to escape back to his home country of Mexico with the help of his girlfriend, family members, and co-workers, after he allegedly shot and killed Singh during a routine traffic stop in northern California on Wednesday. Arriaga was in the United States illegally.
&#8220;An undocumented immigrant with known gang affiliations, the 32-year-old Arriaga tried to flee to Mexico after his alleged crime, authorities said Friday. Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said that Arriaga crossed into Arizona from Mexico illegally a couple of years ago and it is believed that he had been working on farms in California&#8217;s Central Valley,&#8221; according to ABC News. Arriaga had at least two prior arrests on his record, both for driving under the influence.
When Singh pulled Arriaga over early Wednesday morning, it was because he suspected Arriaga of drunken driving. After a brief confrontation which quickly developed into a firefight, Singh was killed. He leaves behind a wife and a five month old son.
Arriaga was eventually captured near Bakersfield, California, nearly 200 miles south of where the initial murder took place.
&#8220;By late Friday night, a total of seven people had been arrested for either misleading authorities about Arriaga&#8217;s whereabouts or aiding him in evading authorities &#8211; including a woman described as Arriaga&#8217;s girlfriend and two of his brothers, according to police officials and ABC-owned station KFSN,&#8221; the outlet continued.
The case, which opened just as the president and Congress clashed over illegal immigration and how best to control it, has highlighted the impact illegal immigration has on law enforcement, and the dangers of unfettered movement across the United States&#8217; southern border.
<a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/12/27/sheriff_on_murder_of_immigrant_officer_singh_by_illegal_immigrant_shining_example_of_the_american_dream.html?fbclid=IwAR0z1dY2Zl54HBlOzd4zsOZO4GckD2LgEAXUnXglbAJSkqS_doHiUeZcUVs">In an interview with Fox News on Thursday</a>, the officer in charge of investigating Singh&#8217;s murder, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, drove home the connection between Singh&#8217;s murder and the issue at the forefront of a Congressional budget battle.
&#8220;Because I want the nation to know, I want your viewers to know, that Officer Singh really should be the focus of this investigation and his sacrifice. But I also want everybody to know that immigration is good for America, if done legally. Illegal immigration doesn&#8217;t serve our communities, especially criminals who victimize and exploit our communities,&#8221; Christianson told Fox.
&#8220;Whether you hate the president or love the president, border security goes hand-in-hand with national security, the safety of our communities, and public safety. We need to know who is in our communities that shouldn&#8217;t be. We should be focusing on criminal activity without political interference,&#8221; he continued.
He repeated his criticisms <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Sheriff-to-announce-significant-13495621.php">in a press conference on Friday</a> announcing Arriaga&#8217;s arrest, slamming California&#8217;s &#8220;sanctuary state&#8221; laws that prevent law enforcement from prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants captured during routine law enforcement actions.
&#8220;We were prohibited &#8212; law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws and that led to the encounter with officer Singh,&#8221; Christianson said. &#8220;The outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasn&#8217;t restricted, prohibited, or had their hands tied because of political interference.&#8221;
President Donald Trump echoed Christianson&#8217;s statements late last week. &#8220;There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop,&#8221; he tweeted Thursday. &#8220;Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall!&#8221;
Ed note: This article originally referred to Sheriff Christianson as Officer Singh&#8217;s boss. Christianson is, instead, the officer in charge of investigating Singh&#8217;s death. The story has been updated to reflect the change and we apologize for the error.

California Sheriff SLAMS Sanctuary Cities, Illegal Immigration After SEVEN More Individuals Are Arrested In Cop Slaying

A twice-deported illegal immigrant who was protected by California&#8217;s &#8220;sanctuary state&#8221; policies, which prevent law enforcement from holding criminal illegal immigrants requested by ICE, died Monday after going on a 24-hour &#8220;personal reign of terror&#8221; in which he killed a man, wounded several, robbed a store, carjacked a vehicle, and forced police to pursue him in a dangerous high-speed chase after engaging in a shootout with law enforcement.
Gustavo Garcia, 36, had a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2002. Along with his presence in the country illegally &#8212; for which he was deported twice, once in 2004 and again in 2014 &#8212; Garcia has faced drug and illegal weapons charges, serving 27 months in federal prison. Before his second deportation, Garcia also had three ICE violations, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-man-previously-deported-in-2014-goes-on-24-hour-reign-of-terror-before-dying-in-police-chase">Fox News</a> reports.
Despite his lengthy rap sheet, California protected Garcia from ICE. Just two days before his deadly &#8220;reign of terror,&#8221; Garcia was held in Tulare County jail for 10 hours after he was arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance.
&#8220;Before Garcia&#8217;s release, ICE officials alerted deputies that Garcia was a criminal with a violent past who had been deported once in 2004 and again in 2014,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/2018/12/19/visalia-killer-deported-twice-ice-arrested-two-days-before-tulare-county-reign-terror/2364736002/">Visalia Times-Delta</a> reports. But, because of California&#8217;s &#8220;sanctuary&#8221; laws, the sheriff&#8217;s office was unable to comply with ICE&#8217;s detention request and was forced to release Garcia back into the public.
Two days later, Garcia shot and killed a man and injured several others, one of them critically, before Garcia himself died after being ejected from the stolen truck after a high-speed pursuit by officers that followed a harrowing shootout.
&#8220;We have one man that essentially [has] been on a personal reign of terror,&#8221; Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux told the press at a news conference.
The sheriff expressed deep &#8220;frustration&#8221; about being hamstrung by the state&#8217;s sanctuary laws. &#8220;The Tulare County Sheriff&#8217;s Office is equally as frustrated with this situation,&#8221; Boudreaux said, citing ICE&#8217;s lament about the needless suffering caused by releasing Garcia. &#8220;Because of California law, detainers can no longer be recognized by local law enforcement.&#8221;
&#8220;This is an unfortunate and extremely tragic example of how public safety is impacted with laws or policies limiting local law enforcement agencies&#8217; ability to cooperate with ICE,&#8221; immigration authorities said in a statement.
Garcia&#8217;s murderous campaign started around 1 p.m. Sunday, when he shot and wounded a farm worker before robbing a convenience store at gunpoint of $2,000 in cash. A little over six hours later, around 7:30 p.m., Garcia shot a female guest at a Motel 6 in both the chest and arm. Neither the farm worker&#8217;s or the guest&#8217;s wounds are critical.
Garcia&#8217;s rampage, the victims of which appear to have been mostly random, continued early morning Monday, when he shot up a gas station nearly Pixley at around 1:30 a.m., and then shot and killed Rocky Paul Jones, 51, at another gas station an hour later.
After firing shots from the backyard of his ex-girlfriend&#8217;s home in Visalia, where Garcia had been living, he fired at a home in the Sultana area, and then engaged in a brief police chase, which included him firing at sheriff&#8217;s cruisers, and ended with him wrecking the car. After a shootout (shown in the video below), Garcia stole a truck and led officers on another dangerous chase that topped speeds of 100 mph, Fox News notes.
After smashing into four other cars &#8212; one driver of which is in critical condition while the others suffered minor wounds &#8212; Garcia died, being reportedly thrown from the truck.
Police have since released body cam footage of the frantic shootout with Garcia prior to his theft at gunpoint of the truck (h/t <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/2018/12/20/released-thanks-californias-sanctuary-state-policy-man-went-reign-terror-days-later/">John Sexton</a>):
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C7bM1FepspQ" width="500"></iframe></div>

WATCH: Body Cam Footage Of Cops’ Shootout With Illegal Alien Protected From ICE By CA’s Sanctuary Laws Just Two Days Earlier

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson protected Philadelphia&#8217;s status as a sanctuary city, asserting that the federal government cannot eliminate grants to the city of Philadelphia over policies that limit the city&#8217;s cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
That triggered this celebratory behavior from Philadelphia mayor James Kenney:
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Watch the Mayor of Philadelphia dance because a court ruled Philly could be a sanctuary city&#8230; 
What a slap to the face of immigrants who worked hard to come here legally. <a href="https://t.co/yMaZXBgBgL">pic.twitter.com/yMaZXBgBgL</a>
&#8212; Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/1004746005009530880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2018</a></blockquote>
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He also tweeted:
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We took on the federal government and won. Today, a federal judge upheld our right to welcome immigrants regardless of their status. Philadelphia will always be a welcoming city for all. <a href="https://t.co/ZkmbJN5FnX">pic.twitter.com/ZkmbJN5FnX</a>
&#8212; Jim Kenney (@PhillyMayor) <a href="https://twitter.com/PhillyMayor/status/1004453365915496451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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On Thursday, the White House <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/06/07/white-house-slams-philadelphia-mayor-for-disgusting-victory-dance-over-sanctuary-city-ruling.html">fired back</a>. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told Fox News, &#8220;Many people in Philadelphia have been killed, raped or assaulted at the hands of criminal illegal aliens. It&#8217;s disgusting the mayor would dance in celebration of a lawless decision that allows these dangerous criminals to roam free in Philadelphia communities and prey on innocent families and children. Democrats&#8217; Sanctuary City policy is reckless, dangerous and protects criminals, not law abiding American citizens.&#8221;
Rep. Lou Barletta of Hazleton, who formerly served as that city&#8217;s mayor, told <a href="http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/06/07/philadelphia-mayor-dances-sanctuary-city-ruling-lou-barletta-rips-jim-kenney-supporting">Fox Business News</a>, &#8220;That&#8217;s really a sad video to watch. Especially for me. I don&#8217;t think the families of the victims in Philadelphia who were victims of illegal immigrants&#8230; I don&#8217;t think they&#8217;re dancing.&#8221; He cited a <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160808_How_a_man_here_illegally_got_released__to_be_arrested_again.html">recent case</a> where an illegal immigrant has been accused of raping a child.
Philadelphia has asserted that it will only relinquish illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if ICE obtains a warrant signed by a judge.

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