Republican Senators Team Up To Give Victims of 'Sanctuary Cities' Chance To Seek Damages
A group of Republican senators introduced legislation on Tuesday that will make sanctuary jurisdictions subject to civil lawsuits by the victims of crimes perpetrated by illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina introduced the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act, which is being co-sponsored by his GOP colleagues Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
According to a news release from Tillis, the legislation “holds sanctuary jurisdictions accountable for failing to comply with lawful detainer and release notification requests made by federal authorities.”
The Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act would create a private right to civil action “for the victims of sanctuary jurisdictions, allowing them to bring an action for compensatory damages against the sanctuary jurisdiction as a result of a violent crime committed by an illegal immigrant.”
Those jurisdictions which refuse to waive their right to governmental immunity from civil litigation would be subject to the withholding of federal funds from the Community Development Block Grant and other grants.
Tillis noted in Mecklenberg County alone (which encompasses the city of Charlotte, North Carolina) there have been more than 20 “troubling instances” of the sheriff’s office refusing to comply with federal detainer requests in relation to criminal illegal immigrants so far this year.
“It’s disturbing to see sheriffs across North Carolina establish sanctuary jurisdictions, releasing dangerous individuals back into communities while refusing to notify federal immigration officials,” Tillis said.
“If politicians want to prioritize reckless sanctuary policies over public safety, they should also be willing to provide just compensation for the victims,” he continued. “The Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act is commonsense legislation that will enhance public safety and hold sanctuary jurisdictions accountable for their refusal to cooperate with federal law enforcement.”
In a separate news release, Cruz recounted visiting the Texas-Mexico border recently and being briefed on the criminal activity associated with illegal immigration, including human trafficking of children, who are used to exploit loopholes in U.S. immigration law.
“In Texas and all along our southern border we are witnessing a surge in illegal border crossings and apprehensions,” Cruz said.
“The American people, and Texas communities in particular, are tired of seeing our laws flouted and the plague of crime that often accompanies illegal immigration,” the senator continued. “Sanctuary cities and their policies are a dangerous affront to the rule of law, and only exasperate the crisis at our border.”
“I am proud to join my colleagues in holding these jurisdictions accountable, and will continue working to enforce our immigration laws,” Cruz said.
In remarks he made at the border last week, the lawmaker recalled being briefed by Border Patrol that, in 2014, roughly 1 percent of adult men crossing the border illegally in the Rio Grande sector had a child with them.
That number has skyrocketed since then: Approximately 50 percent of adult men coming over the border now do so with a child.
It is time to end the crisis at our border. And the only way we will end this crisis is for Congress to stop the political posturing and solve the problem: close the loopholes so that children are not subject to exploitation as they are right now. pic.twitter.com/DG2MIacse6
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 1, 2019
“The fault of that is the U.S. Congress, because we have told the human traffickers, we’ve told the drug traffickers, ‘If you bring a child, that child is essentially a get out of jail free card,'” Cruz said.
He further pointed out that a pilot DNA rapid testing program set up by the Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley found about 30 percent of the children were not related to the adults with whom they were traveling.
“You know this is a political environment where a lot of politicians like to talk about their enormous compassion, their enormous virtue,” Cruz said.
“Let me tell you, nobody who is compassionate, nobody who is virtuous, nobody who gives a d— about human beings, would want for even a single day to perpetuate these loopholes and put more children in harm’s way.”
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