The Antelope Valley Times

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Congressman Garcia co-sponsors bill to let victims sue ‘sanctuary cities’

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[Mike Garcia]
Rep. Mike Garcia, a Republican whose 25th District includes the Antelope Valley, announced Monday that he is co-sponsoring a bill that would allow victims of crimes committed by immigrants in the country without legal permission in Los Angeles and other so-called “sanctuary cities” to sue the city if it did not honor an immigration detainer request from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Garcia said in a statement he is co-sponsoring the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act to hold cities “accountable for their inactions.” The bill was first introduced in the Senate by Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, in July 2019.

Because the U.S. Constitution’s 11th Amendment is often interpreted as preventing individuals from suing states in federal court without consent, the bill would require states and their political subdivisions to give consent for being sued as a condition of receiving certain federal grants, according to the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

After consent is given, victims would be able to sue a sanctuary city if it ignored an immigration detainer from DHS. A detainer, or “immigration hold” is used by ICE agents to apprehend immigrants in the country without legal permission who come into contact with local law enforcement agencies. It is a written request for a local jail or agency to detain a person for an additional 48 hours to give ICE agents time to decide if they will take the person into federal custody, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The term sanctuary city generally applies to municipalities that limit cooperation with federal authorities on immigration enforcement. California has been a sanctuary state since 2017, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill stopping local and state agencies from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding undocumented immigrants who have committed misdemeanors.

The Los Angeles Police Department has had a longstanding policy of not initiating contact with individuals based solely on their immigration status and does not give immigration agents access to its jails or inmates unless they have a federal warrant.

Because of those policies, Los Angeles has often been referred to as a sanctuary city, and in February 2019, Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a resolution to say that Los Angeles is a “city of sanctuary, protecting the human rights of all our residents.”

Garcia said in a statement Monday that he believed sanctuary cities need to be held accountable:

“We must uphold law and order in our cities and communities. Cities that refuse to uphold the law should be held accountable for their inactions. Refusing to honor DHS’s detainer requests has dire consequences,” he said.

Garcia continued: “We need to make public safety a priority and releasing dangerous criminals back into our communities does the opposite. Not only does it make our nation less safe, but it leaves no room for the victims of these offenders to obtain justice. The Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act will improve public safety and hold sanctuary cities accountable for the danger they impose on our communities.”

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27 comments for "Congressman Garcia co-sponsors bill to let victims sue ‘sanctuary cities’"

  1. Everything is fine now guys! Biden is taking away angry orange man’s “detention camps” and replacing them with “soft sided structures” GREAT!!! Biden built these in the first place so he is an expert on how to separate families
    =) This time it will be softer then the last tents for more comfort. Gotta love him.

  2. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Cause of your last name, you won this election. When you hold your kkk leader Grand Master Crump accountable, then talk about your pathetic so called law and disorder…you freaking hypocrites.

  3. Accountability? Ouch. That’s a word illegals dont like. I can sense them wanting to return back to their craphole country where they can practically get away with murder. Their cholo wannabe ganster kids can tag along too. Denounce these anchor babies citizenship and toss them cholos over the wall. This is our country and our childrens country. These turds dont belong and never will… Accept for their food and woman. Democracy is finally on a short leash.

  5. Just proves Democrats Cant run Anything. Everything they touch will be a Disaster. They dont care about Americans just want to bring in as many as possible so Republicans never take office again. Democrats put Americans last. Soon America will no longer be America. Just like Trump said all along. America will turn into s 3rd world dump. Watch Democrats kill all the jobs. Already off to a bad start. Biden killed 11000 jobs the first day he got in.

    • … democrats are so aloof and incompetent, they can’t even rig elections, without having to squander millions, calling in political favors to cover it up –

    • President Biden’s a figurehead. Behind the scenes, it’s Barack Obama’s third term, channeling directives through Susan Rice and Kamala Harris, a heavily scripted Joe Biden presented before the mainstream media, for the signing ceremonies.

    • Democrats didn’t storm the Capitol and erect a gallows.

      Immigrants didn’t crash the economy in 2008 and 2020.

      Homeless people didn’t put the most corrupt person ever in the White House in 2016.

      If you want to know what kind of people did that, read further below. Hint (Rs)

  6. I’d settle for a law that President Biden can’t ignore that insures that any Illegal Alien convicted of any felony is automatically set for deportation after completion of sentence.

    For the Liberals here; Key words, Felony, convicted.

    • For the Constitutionalists here: Key words of concern: any felony, automatically.

      Key cause of concern: No judicial review.

      Otherwise, fine.

      • Felony conviction, which is a judicial process.

        Due process as required by the 4th amendment is upheld by a conviction in a court of law.

        Pretty simple stuff.

        • Actually, what you are suggesting with the ‘automatic’ part is a removal of a level of 4th Amendment protection when you decide to remove judicial review for that step.

          Be cautious of blanket and automatic requirements (especially when put together). Life is rarely as simple as a ‘one decision fits all.’

          Beyond that concern, I’m fine with what you suggest.

  8. Hallmark characteristic of sanctuary cities, different laws for different people, there is no reason sanctuary city democrats shouldn’t be singled-out, held accountable to bona fide citizens they flat refuse to represent –