U.S. Representative Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), the leading Senate candidate in Arizona, suggested that California’s “sanctuary” immigration policies are dangerous enough to require a wall between California and Arizona.
“We in Arizona are always looking to our southern border [with Mexico] and how dangerous it is,” McSally told Fox News host Harris Faulkner. “Maybe we need to start looking to our western border. Maybe [California Gov.] Jerry Brown needs to build a wall between California and Arizona in order to keep all these criminals out, because his dangerous policies are going to be impacting the rest of us around the country.”
McSally spoke with Faulkner before a roundtable on immigration reform with President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon. She spoke about the threat of criminal illegal aliens.
“The House already has passed legislation to stop federal funding from going to sanctuary cities and sanctuary states like California,” the congresswoman said. “We’ve also passed Kate’s Law and Grant’s Law, which is cracking down on these criminal illegals who were a public safety threat.”
Kate’s Law would increase the penalties for deported aliens who try to reenter the United States. Passed last June, the law takes its name from Kate Steinle, a San Francisco woman killed in 2015 by an illegal immigrant who got back into the U.S. despite multiple deportations.
Grant’s Law would end the “catch and release” of illegal immigrants who have been arrested for deportable crimes. Also passed last June, this law takes its name from Grant Ronnebeck, a man gunned down in January 2015 by an illegal immigrant who had been convicted of a felony burglary.
Turning to the roundtable, McSally announced that the mother of another victim would attend. “Attending today will be Mary Ann Mendoza from Arizona, who is an angel mom,” the congresswoman said. The woman’s “son Sergeant Brandon Mendoza was killed by an illegal who was drunk and on meth back in 2014, who was driving the wrong way on a highway for 34 miles and was a previous criminal 20 years prior, but never detained and given the opportunity to be removed from America.”
“Brandon would be alive today if these policies were in force in the past,” McSally declared. “So this is a very real impact, and these are very dangerous policies.”
California has doubled down on so-called “sanctuary” policies, extending lenience to illegal immigrants, even those who have committed serious crimes. As National Review‘s Victor Davis Hanson argued, these policies amount to a modern-day attempt to nullify federal laws — a struggle that led to the Civil War.
Click “Load More” to watch McSally’s comments.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member