Gov. Northam vetoes anti-sanctuary city bill
Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam vetoed a bill that would’ve banned localities from adopting so-called sanctuary city measures, which shields illegal aliens from deportation if they report crimes. That was the selling pitch, by the way. What it has become is a safe space for people who shouldn’t be here, coupled with local authorities inhibiting the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Northam tried to pass that off as the reason for his veto, saying it’s unfair to pass off the costs of immigration enforcement to local police. Virginia Republicans say that the bill merely stated that no locality could adopt ordinances that interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration laws (via WaPo):
The bill was a single sentence: “No locality shall adopt any ordinance, procedure, or policy that restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
Del. Ben Cline (R-Rockbridge), who sponsored the bill, said the measure was intended only to ban localities from interfering federal immigration actions, not press them into service.
A 2017 Harvard-Harris poll conducted for The Hill newspaper found that “80% of voters say local authorities should have to comply with the law by reporting to federal agents the illegal immigrants they come into contact with. As it stands, hundreds of cities across the nation — many with Democratic mayors or city councils — are refusing to do so.”
And now thanks to Virginia’s Democrat Governor Northam’s veto, federal agents won’t have the cooperation they need to control dangerous illegal immigrants, whose major victims are families and children in their own immigrant communities.
(image attribution wikimedia, creative commons Alpha Stock)