[StBernard] Ending Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants

[Westley Annis]

Dear  Friend,


	

This week I introduced an amendment to the budget debate to  crack down on
illegal immigrant havens known as "sanctuary cities."

	

Despite a federal law which requires local governments to  report illegal
immigrants to Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and  Customs
Enforcement (ICE), many large urban cities and some small ones have  adopted
so-called "sanctuary cities policies."  Generally, sanctuary  policies
instruct city employees to not notify the federal government of the
presence of illegal aliens living in their communities. The reality is that
many of our largest cities have defied federal law and have adopted
sanctuary  polices protecting illegal aliens from enforcement agencies. 

	

Last summer an illegal alien, Edwin Ramos, was charged with  three counts of
murder in San Francisco after he shot and killed Tony Bologna  and his  two
sons while they where driving home from a family  picnic.  Ramos, a native
of El Salvador  who was a reputed member of the gang MS-13, had been
arrested at least three  times before the shooting of the Bologna  family.
He was living illegally in the United   States with no documentation of
legal status or temporary  visa status, but he was never deported because of
San Francisco's sanctuary city policies.

	

I've been pushing for an end to sanctuary cities policies on  numerous
occasions, but many of my Senate colleagues refuse to confront this  rapidly
growing problem. So I tried again this week with my amendment to the  budget
debate.  But again, senators were reluctant to take a vote and show  which
members of the Senate are serious about letting dangerous criminal aliens
continue to commit crimes and receive benefits without enforcement. 

	

Rest  assured as the U.S. Senate continues to debate the issues regarding
illegal  immigration, I will continue fighting to make sure that Louisianans
voices are  heard.  


Sincerely,
David Vitter
U.S.  Senator