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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,302464,00.html
Plan to Crack Down on 'Sanctuary Cities' Killed in Senate
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - A House-passed plan to threaten local police agencies with
losing federal money if they don't assist in cracking down on illegal
immigration was defeated Tuesday in the Senate with a 52-42 vote.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., introduced the plan Tuesday in his chamber as part
of the appropriations bill covering the Department of Justice. He said the
amendment would take aim at so-called "sanctuary cities" that have policies
that protect illegal immigrants from federal efforts to find them and deport
them.
"Some of our largest cities practice sanctuary policies that protect and
provide assistance to illegal aliens. My amendment instructs (the Department
of Justice) to withhold federal policing funds from those cities that
continue their sanctuary city policies," Vitter said in news release.
Vitter's amendment would withhold money from the Justice Department's
Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program. Recent awards for
the program created during the Clinton administration include $43.6 million
to 117 law enforcement agencies to fight methamphetamine; $159 million in
technology grants to 37 agencies; and $15 million to seven Louisiana
agencies for crime fighting in the state, according to recent Justice
Department information.
Vitter's move angered the No. 2 Senate Democrat, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin,
who urged his colleagues to defeat the amendment. Other Democrats who
usually are open to tougher immigration laws indicated they weren't in
support of the measure, suggesting the amendment wouldn't have enough
support to prevail.
Vitter said a key portion of federal law requires state and local
governments to cooperate with immigration officials, but it isn't being
enforced.
That language, in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996, says: "Notwithstanding any other provision of
federal, state, or local law, a federal, state, or local government entity
or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity
or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration
status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual."
Vitter's one-paragraph amendment simply says no money from the COPS program
can be used against what the 1996 law prescribes.
Many local governments, including large cities like New York City and
Chicago, have policies that do not require police responding to criminal
reports to inquire about a person's immigration status. Supporters of such
policies say that it would become more difficult to learn about crime in
immigrant communities if those sources thought they would be turned in to
immigration officials.
Durbin defended the policies against Vitter's attack, saying Vitter
apparently was ignoring support given to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New
Orleans.
"These cities, counties and police departments have decided that as a matter
of public health and safety not to inquire about immigration status when
people report crimes or have been the victims of domestic abuse or go to a
clinic to obtain vaccination force their children," Durbin said on the
Senate floor.
"Why in the world would the senator from Louisiana, a state that I bent over
backwards to help since Hurricane Katrina, want to cut off federal funds to
the city of Chicago?" Durbin added.
One conservative Democrat, who declined to be quoted by name, hinted that
Vitter's personal problems were a bad mix with a bill that could take money
away from police trying to crack down on prostitution. Vitter issued a
public apology in July once it was discovered this phone number was among
those disclosed by D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Another prostitute has
since claimed that Vitter paid for her services.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who also tends to vote for more strict
immigration enforcement said Tuesday that the COPS program wouldn't be
losing any money, and the point was "not negotiable."
Plan to Crack Down on 'Sanctuary Cities' Killed in Senate
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - A House-passed plan to threaten local police agencies with
losing federal money if they don't assist in cracking down on illegal
immigration was defeated Tuesday in the Senate with a 52-42 vote.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., introduced the plan Tuesday in his chamber as part
of the appropriations bill covering the Department of Justice. He said the
amendment would take aim at so-called "sanctuary cities" that have policies
that protect illegal immigrants from federal efforts to find them and deport
them.
"Some of our largest cities practice sanctuary policies that protect and
provide assistance to illegal aliens. My amendment instructs (the Department
of Justice) to withhold federal policing funds from those cities that
continue their sanctuary city policies," Vitter said in news release.
Vitter's amendment would withhold money from the Justice Department's
Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program. Recent awards for
the program created during the Clinton administration include $43.6 million
to 117 law enforcement agencies to fight methamphetamine; $159 million in
technology grants to 37 agencies; and $15 million to seven Louisiana
agencies for crime fighting in the state, according to recent Justice
Department information.
Vitter's move angered the No. 2 Senate Democrat, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin,
who urged his colleagues to defeat the amendment. Other Democrats who
usually are open to tougher immigration laws indicated they weren't in
support of the measure, suggesting the amendment wouldn't have enough
support to prevail.
Vitter said a key portion of federal law requires state and local
governments to cooperate with immigration officials, but it isn't being
enforced.
That language, in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996, says: "Notwithstanding any other provision of
federal, state, or local law, a federal, state, or local government entity
or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity
or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration
status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual."
Vitter's one-paragraph amendment simply says no money from the COPS program
can be used against what the 1996 law prescribes.
Many local governments, including large cities like New York City and
Chicago, have policies that do not require police responding to criminal
reports to inquire about a person's immigration status. Supporters of such
policies say that it would become more difficult to learn about crime in
immigrant communities if those sources thought they would be turned in to
immigration officials.
Durbin defended the policies against Vitter's attack, saying Vitter
apparently was ignoring support given to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New
Orleans.
"These cities, counties and police departments have decided that as a matter
of public health and safety not to inquire about immigration status when
people report crimes or have been the victims of domestic abuse or go to a
clinic to obtain vaccination force their children," Durbin said on the
Senate floor.
"Why in the world would the senator from Louisiana, a state that I bent over
backwards to help since Hurricane Katrina, want to cut off federal funds to
the city of Chicago?" Durbin added.
One conservative Democrat, who declined to be quoted by name, hinted that
Vitter's personal problems were a bad mix with a bill that could take money
away from police trying to crack down on prostitution. Vitter issued a
public apology in July once it was discovered this phone number was among
those disclosed by D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Another prostitute has
since claimed that Vitter paid for her services.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who also tends to vote for more strict
immigration enforcement said Tuesday that the COPS program wouldn't be
losing any money, and the point was "not negotiable."
