Every Child Achieves Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, there are certain policies that should not be controversial. It should not be controversial to expect that the laws of this Nation be enforced--equally, fairly, and fully. It should not be controversial to expect local city governments to refrain from actively frustrating the enforcement of Federal law. It should not be controversial to say that an illegal immigrant and repeat felon who has been deported multiple times should not be set free to again threaten law-abiding Americans, much less be in possession of a weapon.
But in our current debate about immigration, these ideas are indeed controversial when, in fact, they should be matters of simple common sense.
I acknowledge that reasonable people can and do differ on issues such as border security and enforcement and the status of illegal immigrants present in our Nation. But we should not disagree about the importance of the rule of law and the need to protect the safety of the American people. That is why I have introduced an amendment that will withhold Federal immigration and law enforcement funds from any State or city that declares itself a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. If a city directs its law enforcement officers to frustrate Federal immigration law, it should not expect U.S. taxpayers to underwrite that effort.
Last week, a young woman, Kate Steinle, was murdered on a San Francisco pier popular with tourists while walking with her father. It was apparently a random crime, one committed by an illegal immigrant--Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez--with a long rap
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sheet. Lopez-Sanchez was in the United States despite having been deported five times previously, and he should have been deported a sixth time. Earlier this year, Lopez-Sanchez was in custody of Federal immigration authorities after he finished a Federal prison sentence, and was awaiting deportation after being designated an ``enforcement priority.'' Federal authorities handed him over to San Francisco first so he could face outstanding drug charges and requested that they be notified if San Francisco planned to release him.
San Francisco did in fact release him in April after dropping charges, but it never notified anyone. The city's government simply allowed Lopez-Sanchez to walk free. This is because San Francisco has proudly deemed itself a sanctuary city. It has passed city ordinances barring its officers from assisting the enforcement of immigration law, freeing itself of the most basic responsibility to cooperate with Federal immigration authorities to keep dangerous criminals off the streets and out of the country. Indeed, Lopez-Sanchez has admitted that he goes to San Francisco because it is a sanctuary city.
This is an outrage to anyone who respects law and order. One might think that it would draw a strong reaction from the Obama administration. The administration, after all, has unequivocally declared that the Constitution and our laws do ``not permit the States to adopt their own immigration programs and policies, or to set themselves up as rival decisionmakers based on disagreement with the focus and scope of Federal enforcement.'' That is a direct quote from the administration's legal brief to the Supreme Court arguing against an Arizona law designed to help Federal officers enforce immigration laws. One would think the administration would be at least as tough on sanctuary city laws that openly flout Federal immigration policies and endanger law-abiding citizens. Yet the administration has enabled--even encouraged--these sanctuary cities for years.
Americans have a right to expect that governments at the local, State, and national level will carry out their most basic duty to enforce the law and protect public safety. We should all be able to agree that a family enjoying a public space such as San Francisco's piers should not have to fear being shot dead. We should all be able to agree that criminals who should be deported under our laws should not be set free with impunity.
There should be no sanctuary for hardened criminals in this country.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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