How can cities and counties ignore federal law?

"Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a Republican-backed bill that would crack down on so-called sanctuary cities by threatening to withhold funds to local governments that don't cooperate with federal immigration officials.

The bill failed on a 54-45 vote. It needed 60 to advance.

The Stop Sanctuary Cities Act became a lightning rod issue ahead of the vote, as GOP sponsors tried to peel off just a few Democrats to support it while Democratic leaders blasted the legislation as counterproductive. The White House issued a formal veto threat Tuesday morning, while the chamber's top Democrat tried to discredit the measure by calling it "The Donald Trump Act."

But GOP backers cast the legislation as a critical first step toward reining in the exploding, and risky, practice of cities and counties ignoring federal immigration law."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/10/...tcmp=hpbt1

Of course they did.

They'll attempt to pass or deny anything that adds to their voting base, which in turn adds to their power. And power is what it's all about after all.

Weren't federal funds withheld if states didn't adopt the medicaid expansion and common core?

(10-20-2015 03:53 PM)200yrs2late Wrote:  Weren't federal funds withheld if states didn't adopt the medicaid expansion and common core?

And highway dollars for the legal drinking age

(10-20-2015 04:30 PM)dfarr Wrote:  

(10-20-2015 03:53 PM)200yrs2late Wrote:  Weren't federal funds withheld if states didn't adopt the medicaid expansion and common core?

And highway dollars for the legal drinking age

and seatbelts

and speed limits back when they 55mph....

I'm noticing a pattern here.

This is the type of crap that really bothers me... too many laws are bad enough but selective enforcement of said laws is even worse. It means that at any time Uncle Sam can come smack you down with a law they did not enforce six months ago.

This is weak and misplaced resistance.

The appropriate thing is to impeach the President if he doesn't enforce the federal laws in those cities. It isn't the cities that aren't arresting people. It is the federal authorities.

The Republicans failure to impeach in the beginning are an ever festering sore which may prove fatal.

(10-20-2015 09:38 PM)Claw Wrote:  This is weak and misplaced resistance.

The appropriate thing is to impeach the President if he doesn't enforce the federal laws in those cities. It isn't the cities that aren't arresting people. It is the federal authorities.

The Republicans failure to impeach in the beginning are an ever festering sore which may prove fatal.

impeachment would not have accomplished anything.

(10-20-2015 09:52 PM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote:  impeachment would not have accomplished anything.

What would?

(10-20-2015 09:52 PM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote:  

(10-20-2015 09:38 PM)Claw Wrote:  This is weak and misplaced resistance.

The appropriate thing is to impeach the President if he doesn't enforce the federal laws in those cities. It isn't the cities that aren't arresting people. It is the federal authorities.

The Republicans failure to impeach in the beginning are an ever festering sore which may prove fatal.

impeachment would not have accomplished anything.

We'll never know. Nonetheless, it is the proper response to a President who does not execute the laws of the land.

I don't know. If I did I would not be sweating my grocery bills this month.

(10-20-2015 03:36 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  How can cities and counties ignore federal law?

We all know the reason for that.

Democrats first need those illegals to be able to vote in 2016 before any laws are adjusted.

Saw a clip of some Dem senator saying "how can the federal government best tell those cities how to operate?" or some such nonsense.

Just to clarify:

gun control, gay marriage ---> ok for feds to but in

illegal aliens -----> feds need to but out and let local gov's handle it

(10-21-2015 08:50 AM)MemphisTiger15 Wrote:  illegal aliens -----> feds need to but out and let local gov's handle it

Unless it's Arizona. Then the Federal Government needs to butt-in, again.

Sanctuary Cities are actually safer.

Link

It's not the local communities job to enforce federal law. This is a result of the failure of Washington to come up with proper immigration reform. The votes are there...the balls however, aren't.

Quote:Allowing this anti-immigrant activism to override rational policymaking, however, comes with serious consequences -- like racial profiling. North Carolina's legislation HB 318, as well as the Congressional legislation under consideration, puts undocumented residents at risk for unreasonable detention and deportation, even in routine contact with local police. Undocumented residents, and those in mixed status families, may think twice before reporting a crime or calling the police if they are experiencing domestic violence, or they may be taken away from their families because of a minor offense.

None of this will lead to safer communities. It will only fracture families more, leading to less stability and less security.

Before North Carolina's mistake is replicated at the state or federal level, we need our policymakers to stay above the noise created by extreme actors in our political system. Focusing on forging policy that is constitutional and fair, rather than reactionary and drawn from base prejudices, is the only way to build the kind of strong, welcoming nation in which we all want to live.

'Sanctuary Cities' Bill on Senate Floor Is Unsafe and Unwise

(10-21-2015 02:20 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  It's not the local communities job to enforce federal law.

They aren't and as the law stands now they can't.


What they are supposed to do is detain people they already have in jail for other offenses and notify the immigration authorities they have them so that immigration can enforce the federal law.

It's no different than if they locked up someone for DUI and determined they had a federal warrant. They hold the person until the feds come to serve a warrant and to take them into federal custody.

Nobody is saying San Francisco or anybody else has to enforce federal immigration laws, just that they have to make the proper notifications as required by law.


That being said, I have long felt that any state or local law enforcement agency that desires to go through the proper training to enforce federal immigration laws should be allowed to do so. I wouldn't force any agency to do so, but those willing to should be allowed.