Sanctuary cities an expensive experiment

“I received a letter just before I left office. It said that you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German, an Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan and other countries. But it said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to the United States and become an American.” – Ronald Reagan

Despite the pervasive term “sanctuary city,” it has no clear definition. Most people opposed to open borders and lack of enforcement of our immigration laws define them as a jurisdiction that is acting in violation of federal immigration law. Progressives refer to them as jurisdictions that do not fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts, and offer a safe harbor for illegal aliens.

Sanctuary cities are cities, counties, and states that offer special services to immigrants and refrain from arresting a person based on their immigration status. Sanctuary cities are not only skirting the law, they are welcoming recently arrived illegal aliens but lack the money to support their needs. Now officials from these cities are asking for federal money to take care of thousands of migrants.

Sanctuary policies allow local officers to decline to enforce a federal request for detention during deportation considerations. Instead of holding an individual in jail beyond their release date, local officials have created many of their own regulations and guidelines that alter or circumvent federal immigration laws.

“Let me state the obvious. Illegal immigration is illegal, duh.” – John Kennedy

President Barack Obama turned to cities as partners because he found mayors far more receptive to progressive policies, such as raising the minimum wage or mandating paid sick leave benefits, than a Republican Congress. Obama increased federal money given to them to help support progressive policies. The cities in turn found ways to attract more people to get more money.

As a result of Obama’s progressive policies, numerous mayors pledged that their cities would be sanctuaries for illegal aliens and minority groups, including Muslims who may be threatened by shifts in federal policy. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, for example, vowed to offer safe harbor to all residents, even if that meant using “City Hall itself” as a sanctuary to house and keep them safe.

In reaction to the election of Donald Trump, and his proposed executive order to crack down on sanctuary cities by denying these safe harbors new federal funds, blue state Democrats went on a rampage to declare many large metropolitan areas as new sanctuary cities. They claimed denying federal funding to them would create a greater hardship for their legal citizens living there as well.

When Joe Biden opened our southern border and welcomed all immigrants to cross over into the U.S., he also opened up a can of worms that he can’t close. Since the Democrats see every illegal migrant as probable progressive voters, they are fighting like two vultures over road-kill to keep the southern border open under the guise that all of these illegal migrants are seeking political asylum.

The ramifications of Biden’s open border policies have caused an increase in drug trafficking and crime in America, and it is a security threat as well. Polls indicate widespread frustration with Biden and Democrats running for reelection next year. They are now relying on sanctuary city blue state governors to emancipate Biden’s border mismanagement and disrespect for the law.

“We must address the root causes why people make the trek here to fix the problems.” – Kamala Harris

When border state governors Doug Ducey (AZ), Greg Abbott (TX) and Ron DeSantis (FL) started busing illegals north to sanctuary cities, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to justify waves of illegal migration to the U.S. claiming that farmers on the border needed them to pick crops. But these governors only began busing immigrants north because they had over-croweded their cities.

Sanctuary cities like Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago are sagging under the weight of the cost required to support these new illegal aliens. The honeymoon is over for many of them. Their mayors are complaining about it, since they are facing many of the same problems southern border towns have had to deal with for so many years. They can’t afford to support them forever.

New York City’s Eric Adams calls the situation there “horrific and said there’s “no more room at the inn” after learning that Colorado plans to ship illegal aliens to New York. We’ve seen the same kinds of responses from Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia and Martha’s Vineyard, who told the federal government to remove the border-jumpers Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had sent there.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told the White House, “We need federal economic help immediately.”

This is typical of progressives. They pursue a supposedly compassionate, ideal way to increase their flock, then when reality sets in and their pie in the sky comes crashing down, they cry for help and bailouts. Adams and Bowser, both progressives, are begging others to fix the mess that Biden and their party’s open-border policies created. Their sanctuary cities are facing an economic crisis.

Last year, Philadelphia passed a bond of $300,000 to publicly fund immigration attorneys for aliens facing deportation. The New York City Council budgeted $16.6 million the same year for the same purpose. Local taxpayers funding these programs in sanctuary cities will be expected to pay more for these programs as the numbers of illegal alien cases and appeals continue to rise. In Chicago, a city that refuses to allow ICE access to information databases, is begging for federal assistance.

While states like Texas are working overtime to secure their borders, sanctuary cities across the nation are promoting illegal immigration and exacerbating the crisis. Municipalities that implement sanctuary city policies are adding fuel to the fire of Joe Biden’s horrific border crisis. Giving refuge to those who broke our immigration laws they expect taxpayers to foot the bill for it.

“What makes someone American isn’t blood or birth, but allegiance to our founding principles.” – Barack Obama

John Marston wrote, “Charity begins at home.” The low-cost virtue of declaring your blue state a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants is now revealing its enormous price tag. Earlier this year Biden shelled out $363 million in federal tax dollars to help sanctuary cities and states cover the costs of sheltering, feeding, and transporting illegal migrants who crossed our southern border illegally.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to dole out more U.S. taxpayer money this month.

Federal law requires the detention of every illegal border crosser during the entire course of his or her asylum proceedings. Obama ignored that and let these people live anywhere in the U.S. Biden has been following that same policy since he was elected. By ending the enforcement of Title 42, he doubled down on the problem and American taxpayers are footing the bill.

“We need to decouple the movement for comprehensive immigration reform and justice for immigrants from the legislative process and from the Democratic Party process. They are too linked.” – Luis Gutierrez