The Biden administration has been consistent with its support of sanctuary cities throughout the massive increase in illegal aliens at the southern border. But times change, and so does federal policy. The administration is now urging sanctuary cities and jurisdictions across the country to cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to apprehend criminal illegal aliens at ICE's request.
There have been several high-profile murders allegedly committed by illegal aliens who had been released from local custody despite "hold" requests from ICE.
"We welcome local law enforcement’s support and cooperation in apprehending and removing individuals who pose a risk to national security or public safety," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. "When a local jurisdiction has information about an individual who could pose a threat to public safety, we want them to share that information with ICE."
How many murders have been committed over the last few years, not to mention other crimes, by illegal aliens who might have been detained by local law enforcement until ICE was able to take them into federal custody?
What the administration now sees as a "national security and public safety" issue hasn't suddenly burst onto the scene in 2024. The threat has always been there. The political machinations by sanctuary cities to free illegal aliens before ICE could arrest them means that there's blood on the hands of big-city Democratic mayors and the activists who pressure the politicians to ignore public safety. The result has been dead American citizens who didn't have to die.
Proponents of sanctuary policies argue that they are not obligated to help federal immigration enforcement and that it can encourage otherwise-lawful illegal immigrants to talk to police if they do not fear deportation. As a result, there are now sanctuary jurisdictions across the U.S.
As a presidential candidate in 2020, Biden appeared supportive of such policies. In a March 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate, he answered "no" when asked if "undocumented immigrants" arrested by local police should be turned over to immigration officials.
In his first days in office, Biden’s administration announced a 100-day moratorium on all deportations, which was eventually blocked by a federal judge. It also reversed Trump-era limits on DOJ funding grants that were tied to cooperation with immigration enforcement, meaning that they excluded sanctuary cities.
Time and again authorities in sanctuary cities have a dangerous illegal alien in custody only to release him before ICE could transfer him to federal detention. There's nothing "humanitarian" about the release. It's pure politics with mayors and other elected politicians bending to the political whims of some in the Hispanic community.
The Supreme Court has ruled that because immigration enforcement is a federal matter, cities are not required to act as agents for ICE and capture and detain illegal aliens. Any cooperation they give is voluntary.
That doesn't help the community of Athens, Ga., which is reeling from the tragedy of nursing student Laken Riley who was murdered on the University of Georgia campus last week, allegedly by an illegal alien from Venezuela named José Antonio Ibarra.
At a press conference held by the mayor, protesters interrupted the proceedings several times. Other protesters silently stood in the back of the room bolding signs that said "You've got blood on your hands," referring to Mayor Kelly Girtz. The protesters alleged that Girtz had turned Athens into a sanctuary city, although Georgia law forbids it.
"You're a liar," a man shouted, repeatedly. "You're the one who is guilty and got blood on your hands for this murder, sir!"
"There's been no legislation from this government that’s created sanctuary city status," he said.
Athens may not "officially" be a sanctuary city, but it's a virtual certainty that the Democratic city follows the same playbook as cities like New York and Chicago.
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