Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz Announce New Legislation Allowing Victims of Violence to Sue Sanctuary Cities

ATF agents prepare for a raid in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum early Wednesday morning, May 17, 2017, in Los Angeles. Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement fanned out across Los Angeles, serving arrest and search warrants as part of a three-year investigation into the violent and brutal street gang MS-13. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
ATF agents prepare for a raid in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum early Wednesday morning, May 17, 2017, in Los Angeles. Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement fanned out across Los Angeles, serving arrest and search warrants as part of a three-year investigation into the violent and brutal street gang MS-13. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Advertisement

 

 

In a press release Tuesday, Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis announced new legislation intended to give voice to victims of those in the country illegally who are harmed by sanctuary policies.

Thom cited his home state — where, according to him, sanctuary politics have brought danger — as the bill’s inspiration.

So what’s the move about? It gives the citizenry a right to sue the city as complicit in violence committed by illegal immigrants:

The legislation creates a private right of 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. Any sanctuary city or jurisdiction that refuses to waive its immunity as it relates to sanctuary-related civil action would be subject to the withholding of certain Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding.

The Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act is a direct response to a growing number of sanctuary jurisdictions across the nation (including North Carolina’s Buncombe, Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, and Wake Counties) that either have official sanctuary policies or are refusing to comply with detainer requests and release notifications from the Department of Homeland Security.

Advertisement

The official bulletin provides an example of such crimes:

Earlier this month, the Mecklenburg County (NC) Sheriff’s Office refused to notify ICE and comply with a lawful detainer request when it released a dangerous illegal immigrant from county jail who was charged with multiple domestic violence charges for strangling a woman and threatening to kill her. This was only one of more than 20 troubling instances this year of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office releasing potentially dangerous individuals after refusing to comply with detainer requests. The reckless sanctuary policy prompted criticism from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

For a deeper look into the system’s failure to protect against criminals who’ve sneaked into the country, please read the powerful stories found within “In Protest Of Washington’s Radical New Sanctuary Law, ICE Releases A List Of Atrocities That Resulted From Sanctuary Policies.”

As indicated by the press release, co-sponsor Lindsey Graham’s psyched:

“A good piece of legislation that is long overdue. There must be consequences for governments and entities that gamble with public safety, refuse to work with federal officials, and refuse to deal with felons here illegally. This legislation empowers individuals who are the victims of these entities and governments’ poor decisions.”

Advertisement

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn thirds the motion:

“It’s time we put the public safety of our citizens above the sanctuary of an immigrant who has come to our country illegally.”

In addition to Thom, Lindsey, and Marsha, the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act is co-sponsored by Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley & Joni Ernst, as well as Ted Cruz.

Read the entire release via this link.

-ALEX

 

Relevant RedState links in this article: here.

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below.

If you have an iPhone and want to comment, select the box with the upward arrow at the bottom of your screen; swipe left and choose “Request Desktop Site.” If it fails to automatically refresh, manually reload the page. Scroll down to the red horizontal bar that says “Show Comments.”

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos