Sanctuary city policies simply inflame the debate over immigration when seemingly with another month comes another infuriating news item detailing how an individual who is in the country illegally was the cause of someone’s death.

In many instances, we find out these individuals are already wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but cities with sanctuary policies neglected to inform federal authorities, so the person winds up back on the roads and walking around freely able to harm American citizens.

We saw this most notoriously in the death of Kate Steinle, who was killed by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a man who had already been deported multiple times and had again just been released from jail in the sanctuary city of San Francisco.

In February, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man were hit and killed by an illegal alien, Manuel Orrego-Savala, who lied about his identity at the scene of the wreck and tried to run away on foot. While Indiana specifically outlawed sanctuary cities in 2011, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in February last year the city would not “comply with any law a court has determined to be discriminatory or unconstitutional.”

The latest story out of Denver, Co. — which has declared they will not enforce federal immigration laws — last week is truly maddening. Semi-truck driver John Anderson, 57, suffered a truly horrific death when a man already wanted by ICE officials, Ivan Zamarripa Castaneda, 26, hit Anderson head on. he semi-truck burst into flames.

Anderson was killed in the crash and his semi’s cab and trailer tragically burst into flames.

Castaneda was arrested by police because he left the scene of the wreck. Castanada was formally charged with vehicular homicide, DUI, and leaving the scene of an accident where a death has occurred.

You might think Castaneda would be locked up right now seeing as how he’s an obvious flight risk and charged with such serious charges, but you’d be wrong. Castaneda was released on $25,000 bond.

ICE wasn’t notified until more than an hour after his release, which the Denver Sheriffs Department is now looking into, rightly stating it was “unacceptable.”

The policy of sanctuary cities belies the argument from open borders advocates that Americans have nothing to fear and those who reside here illegally are simply hard-working law-abiding individuals. I tend to want to believe that’s true. Where the issue lies with sanctuary cities is that they are deliberately undermining their own argument by not reporting to ICE officials when an illegal alien breaks the law.

If open borders advocates want to make the argument that immigration enforcement shouldn’t be used against the majority of those living in the U.S. illegally, then those caught breaking our laws and landing in jail — who are clearly not the hard-working, law-abiding residents they want everyone to accept as true — then they must be reported and deported after serving their time.

This business of sanctuary cities wanting their cake and eating it too when it comes to illegal aliens breaking our laws — beyond being here illegally — is bad faith on these city’s officials’ part. Period.