Republican Congress Seeks To Punish Sanctuary Cities
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Congressional Republicans are using the death of Kathryn Steinle and the excitement about Donald Trump’s xenophobic comments to punish sanctuary cities. But they’re putting another bill in jeopardy by doing so.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a presidential contender, as well as Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), have filed an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act, the Senate’s overhaul of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, that would redirect funding meant for sanctuary cities to state and local governments that comply with federal law.Sessions accused officials of “deliberately and openly” disregarding federal immigration laws as an “act of defiance.”“Congress has an obligation to ensure limited taxpayer dollars are not given to cities and counties who refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement,” he said.
Republican Sen. David Vitter, who is running for governor in Louisiana, has also introduced an amendment cracking down on sanctuary cities to the education bill.
But tying the immigration measure to the education bill, which has so far managed to avoid any political landmines, would likely sink the legislation, which has the strong support of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
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