Conservative Blogger
Friday, July 24, 2015
House OKs bill to crack down on 'sanctuary cities,' White House threatens veto
The House approved legislation Thursday to punish so-called “sanctuary cities” for failing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, in the first congressional response to a brazen murder earlier this month in San Francisco allegedly committed by an illegal immigrant.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., would penalize jurisdictions that bar the collection of immigration information or don't cooperate with federal “detainer” requests, by blocking them from receiving certain federal law enforcement grants and funding.
It passed 241-179. The Senate is considering similar legislation.
“Sanctuary city policies needlessly endanger American lives by refusing to honor the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration laws,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the Obama Administration’s own foolish policies enable rogue local governments to defy federal immigration laws. All too often, these reckless policies create preventable tragedies.”
The legislation already faces a White House veto threat. The White House said the bill “fails to offer” comprehensive reforms and undermines current efforts to remove dangerous convicted criminals and work with local law enforcement.
Angry Democrats accused Republicans of aligning themselves with Donald Trump and his brash anti-illegal immigrant views.
The legislation is the first passed since the July 1 killing of Kathryn Steinle on a California pier.
Steinle, 32, was allegedly shot by Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, an illegal immigrant who had been released from city sheriff’s department custody in April.
According to federal immigration officials, Sanchez had already been deported five times and had a lengthy felony criminal record. After serving most of his recent sentence, federal officials turned him over to San Francisco in March on an outstanding warrant – and the city released him weeks later without notifying the feds.
The city argued it had no grounds on which to hold him.
Steinle’s case sparked a fresh round of debate about local jurisdictions – the so-called sanctuary cities – that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities in order to protect those legally living in the U.S. Steinle’s father Jim testified this week on Capitol Hill in support of changes to the law.
"There are criminals motivated by malice and a conscious disregard for the lives of others, and there are cities more interested in providing a sanctuary for those criminals than they are in providing a sanctuary for their law-abiding citizens," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said. "This is more than an academic discussion. ... It is quite literally life and death."
But Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said the bill was “not about grabbing criminals” but about “grabbing headlines.”
Members of both parties endorsed Steinle's plea but offered different diagnoses of the problem, with Republicans calling for more enforcement of the law and Democrats calling for a comprehensive immigration overhaul, something House Republicans have blocked for years.
The comments echoed the years-long national debate over immigration, but this latest chapter comes at a moment when immigration has become a hot-button issue on the presidential campaign trail, thanks to Trump's provocative claims about Mexican immigrants being "rapists" and "criminals."
Trump traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday to continue his focus on the issue, to the dismay of many Republicans who fear his campaign risks further alienating Latino voters from the Republican Party. House Republicans rejected Democratic attempts to connect their legislation with Trump's campaign.
"We have a horrible tragedy that was preventable," said Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, when asked about the link. "Cities do not have the right to ignore federal laws that require them to incarcerate people who have committed serious felonies."
Not all House Republicans were backing the bill. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., a supporter of a comprehensive overhaul, said Thursday's bill wouldn't have prevented Kathryn Steinle's death to begin with.
"This is an exercise, this is not a solution," Curbelo told reporters. "This may generate a headline, but it's not going to solve a problem."
But other House Republicans viewed Thursday's vote as just the first step in advancing a slate of enforcement-focused immigration bills centered on beefing up border security and cracking down on immigrants with criminal records. Such an approach would ignore the advice of some Republican Party leaders who've urged the party to reach out to Latino voters by embracing comprehensive overhaul legislation including a path to citizenship for the 11.5 million people in the country illegally.
"The appetite for amnesty has diminished dramatically after we see the carnage in the streets of America at the hands of criminal aliens that should have been removed from the country," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. "And so that means that now the climate is much better to try to move down the line on enforcement."
Trump threatens independent run, on sidelines of border visit
Donald Trump made a splashy visit Thursday to the U.S.-Mexico border in a bid to draw attention to illegal immigration. But on the sidelines, he was making news for other reasons -- his threat to mount an independent run for the White House if the Republican Party won't welcome him.
The warning, made in an interview with The Hill, comes as Trump faces some of the toughest criticism yet from fellow Republican candidates. Trump said the Republican National Committee "has not been supportive," and suggested if he does not clinch the nomination and is not "treated" well by Republicans, he'd consider an independent bid.
Asked about the remarks Thursday during his border visit, Trump did not rule out an independent run but said: "I want to run as a Republican. ... I think I'll get the nomination."
Trump's comments immediately raise questions about whether the billionaire businessman and political provocateur -- who is leading several primary polls -- could siphon off votes from a GOP presidential nominee, potentially helping the Democrat. As a self-funded candidate, he would not have to worry about donations drying up if he does poorly in the Republican primaries and caucuses and considers setting out on his own.
Meanwhile, Trump tried to keep the focus Thursday on border security and immigration enforcement. At his border press conference, he said: "I think I'll win the Hispanic vote."
The visit was overshadowed not only by his comments to The Hill but by a local Border Patrol union canceling a scheduled meeting shortly before his arrival.
He said the border with Mexico is "not secure," and an "honest discussion" is needed with the American people. But he expressed concern that a meeting with Trump would have been portrayed as an endorsement. "As Local 2455, our intentions to meet with Mr. Trump was to provide a 'Boots on the Ground' perspective to not only Mr. Trump, but to the media that would be in attendance at this event," he said. "Just to be clear, an endorsement was never discussed for any presidential candidate. Local 2455 does not endorse candidates for any political office."
In a written statement, the Trump campaign said the local union was "totally silenced directly from superiors in Washington who do not want people to know how bad it is on the border --- every bit as bad as Mr. Trump has been saying."
Trump maintained he had been invited by them in the first place.
The campaign said, "It is unfortunate the local union of Border Patrol Agents received pressure at a national level not to participate and ultimately pulled out of today's event."
The Trump campaign's original itinerary said he would meet with the Local 2455 Executive Board. He was also meeting with local law enforcement, including federal agents from several agencies.
The visit comes as Trump both rises in the Republican primary polls and battles criticism from both sides of the aisle for recent comments -- first, for calling some Mexican illegal immigrants "rapists," and then, for questioning Sen. John McCain's "war hero" reputation over the weekend.
State Department, intelligence watchdogs reportedly call for criminal probe of Clinton emails
The inspectors general for the State Department and the intelligence community reportedly have asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into whether Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information by using a personal e-mail account while secretary of state.
According to The New York Times, an initial joint memorandum dated June 29 and sent to State Department Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy said that a review of Clinton's e-mail archive contained "hundreds of potentially classified emails".
Clinton, who served as secretary of state during President Barack Obama's first term, has repeatedly denied sending or receiving any classified information on her personal account. However, the inspectors general wrote in a second memorandum last week that at least one of Clinton's emails that had been made public by the State Department contained sensitive information.
Clinton presidential campaign spokesman Nick Merrill issued a statement early Friday denying that Clinton had handled classified materials inappropriately.
"As has been reported on multiple occasions, any released emails deemed classified by the [Obama] administration have been done so after the fact, and not at the time they were transmitted," Merrill said.
The Times reported that senior Justice Department officials had not said whether they will open an investigation.
Clinton has maintained that she turned over all relevant federal records before deleting her emails off her sever. Amid heavy public criticism, she later asked the State Department to release 55,000 pages of emails she had turned over to them. An initial batch of 3,000 pages was made public June 30.
The next day, State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed to Fox News that the department had retroactively deemed about 25 of the Clinton emails to be classified. The Times reports that in May, the State Department also acceded to a request by the FBI to retroactively classify a section of emails related to the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The Department's decisions don't mean Clinton knowingly sent classified information during her tenure as America's top diplomat.
The New York Times reports that the inspectors general also criticized the State Department for over-reliance on former Foreign Service officers to determine which information should be classified and failure to consult with the intelligence community on such matters.
Turkey agrees to allow US to use air base for strikes against ISIS
The United States may now launch manned and unmanned military strikes against ISIS from inside Turkey after the government there agreed to allow Washington expanded use of a key air base, a senior defense official confirmed to Fox News Thursday.
Prior U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State have originated from aircraft carriers in the Gulf. However, Turkey has agreed to allow the U.S. expanded use of its Incirlik Air Base, located near the Turkish-Syrian border.
The U.S. military had been using the base in Turkey previously for drone missions and other support operations such as launching and recovering refueling aircraft. Military officials told The Wall Street Journal the agreement also opens up other bases in Turkey for potential use in the campaign against Islamic State.
The Defense Department released a statement Thursday night confirming that there had been discussions with Turkey about counter-ISIS efforts, but did not go into specifics about Incirlik.
"The United States and Turkey have held ongoing consultations about ways we can further our joint counter-ISIL efforts," the statement said. "We have decided to further deepen our cooperation in the fight against ISIL, our common efforts to promote security and stability in Iraq, and our work to bring about a political settlement to the conflict in Syria."
While the U.S. is planning to launch air strikes against ISIS from Turkey, the defense official who spoke to Fox News remained skeptical if Turkey would do the same and said that was the real question.
The news comes amid increasing violence along Turkey’s 560-mile long border with Syria. ISIS is believed to have been behind a suicide attack on Monday that killed 32 and injured 100 mostly Kurdish activists. Kurdish militants, many of whom blame Turkey for not doing more to stop ISIS, reportedly responded by killing two Turkish police officers. A border-area gunfight erupted Thursday between suspected-ISIS extremists and Turkish police, leaving at least one dead on each side.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked about the reported air base agreement during his Thursday briefing but also declined to discuss specifics.
President Obama spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday night in a conversation the White House said focused on Turkey’s border security.
“The two leaders discussed efforts to deepen our cooperation in the fight against ISIL,” Earnest said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Tit for Tat ? ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was ripped from its base in Rochester on the an...
-
NEW YORK (AP) — As New York City faced one of its darkest days with the death toll from the coronavirus surging past 4,000 — more th...
-
What's the role of government? To one award-winning academic, it's discrimination according to race. On February 9th, Mic...
