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Americans, drama-fatigued by the left’s unending exploitation of illegal immigrants, are sending a clear message to the candidates battling it out in Midterm races: Stop thumbing your nose at the law of the land.
In a recent Rasmussen Reports survey, 54% of respondents say states do not have the right to supersede federal mandates, while only 24% believe they should – and public opinion is trending strongly against sanctuary cities.
The numbers are telling; the grandstanding antics of Oakland, CA mayor Libby Schaaf, who issued the warning to illegals of a pending ICE raid, just aren’t going to fly with Americans. Instead, 47% of voters surveyed demanded prosecution against the woman.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has not decided whether to prosecute Schaaf, although he flew to Sacramento and said publicly, “How dare you.” This is not even close to what many Americans feel should have been, “You are under arrest.” And the lack of a definitive message from the Department of Justice on whether crimes were committed, speaks volumes. It isn’t going to happen.
Illegal Immigration is a Crime, Right?
Most native-born Americans and legal immigrants firmly believe that entering our country without proper documentation is a criminal offense. It is illegal, but it’s actually considered a civil offense. Liberty Nation reached out to Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies, of the Cato Institute for clarification:
“Not everything that’s illegal — meaning against the law or violating the law — is a crime. There are civil violations, like when you get a parking ticket. ‘Unlawful presence’ is one of these. You don’t go to jail or receive any other criminal punishment for being in the country illegally — you get deported.”
Or so they should.
But as we have seen, sanctuary cities skip that last part and release illegal immigrants back onto the streets without red-flagging ICE. This flagrant foul behavior is enraging legal residents further and, as polls indicate, will not be tolerated much longer by Trump supporters; that ever strong and silent majority.
Last July, Rasmussen Reports released a survey in direct response to California’s readiness to declare itself a sanctuary state. People across the country went bonkers, wondering how a state could possibly thumb its nose at federal law, and 62% of those surveyed said they were against California’s defiant position on illegal immigration in conflict with the government.
Regardless, the lawyers in the liberal camp define their civil rights activism in a myriad of ways, quoting the policies of sanctuary cities, which have been defined as needed by the practicing city. A sticky wicket of tangled terms and legal wriggling, as Shapiro explained:
“It depends on how you define “sanctuary” city or state. The federal government can’t require that state/local officials enforce federal law (immigration or otherwise), but states and localities can’t interfere with federal law enforcement. Congress can also condition federal funding of state law enforcement on cooperating on immigration or other federal laws.”
Can We Vote This Nonsense into Oblivion?
Whether conservatives retain both houses of Congress and continue to support President Trump’s immigration reforms may not matter one whit. As Shapiro described, there is a small loophole that allows for the cat to pounce on the mouse; locals can’t interfere with federal law enforcement, as did Mayor Libby Schaaf. It appears, then, Sessions has every right to pursue charges against her for aiding and abetting. But in the meantime, Americans need to take back their cities, towns, and states to fight the war on illegal immigration.
Although we depend on the federal government to deal with immigration, they aren’t going to be effective if they must also battle sanctuary cities and safe spaces. That’s our job. It doesn’t matter if you are electing a dog catcher or a governor; get out and fight for conservative, principled people that will work with our president and Congress to send illegals back to their own countries.
