A measure that pursued to disallow federal funds from sanctuary cities – jurisdictions designed to not prosecute people solely for being an illegal alien and resist turning over undocumented immigrants to federal authorities – has been blocked by a 53-44 vote in the Senate on Wednesday.
The measure, which stemmed from last year’s deadly San Francisco shooting involving an immigrant living in the U.S. illegally, was one of two immigration dealings that were blocked by Senate votes yesterday. The sanctuary city bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is locked in a tough re-election race in Pennsylvania. “Sanctuary cities are Orwellian in their logic — they give extra protection to dangerous criminals, just because they happen to be in the country illegally,” the senator said after the vote.
Restrictions have been pushed for by Congressional Republicans since the July 2015 shooting of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco. The man charged in her death, Juan Francisco López Sánchez, was living in the United States illegally, despite a long criminal record and multiple deportations. He had been released by San Francisco authorities even with a request from federal immigration authorities to keep him detained.
The second measure would have increased the maximum sentence for illegal re-entry into the country, allowing for up to a 10-year penalty for an individual denied admission or deported at least three times. That failed on a 55-42 vote. The second measure was sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who ran an unsuccessful bid for president this year. “We are failing to adequately deter deported illegal aliens from illegally re-entering the country, especially those with violent criminal records,” Cruz said.
The Obama administration strongly opposed both bills, arguing that neither offered “comprehensive reforms needed to fix the nation’s broken immigration laws.” The Senate passed a major immigration overhaul in 2013, but the legislation died in the House as conservatives strongly opposed any path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living here illegally. The bill also would have boosted border security and increased visas for legal immigrants.
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