Sanctuary Cities are Safer and More Prosperous
The No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act (H.R. 32), is an extreme Republican attempt to strip federal funding for school meal programs, public transit, disaster relief, and public health initiatives and penalize cities and states that refuse to cooperate with mass deportation efforts.
This bill violates the 10th Amendment, which protects states and cities from federal overreach. Courts have repeatedly ruled that the federal government cannot force states to carry out federal policies, but 13 sanctuary states and another 220 cities in 22 states would be targeted by the bill.
Unfortunately, not all sanctuary laws have strong firewalls against a potential fascist and virulently anti-immigrant federal administration. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) has analyzed the degree to which sanctuary policies limit or expand cooperation by state and local officials with immigration enforcement activities. Only Oregon and Illinois have comprehensive state laws that restrict cooperation. A few others limit participation, but still allow the transfer of immigrants directly from state and local officials to detention. In other words, we still have a long way to go to oppose the mass deportation agenda and defend immigrant communities.
Why should we support sanctuary states and cities? The narrative that the current administration is peddling is that they are havens for criminals. According a report published by the Center for American Progress, the exact opposite is true. Among the main findings:
There are, on average, 35.5 fewer crimes committed per 10,000 people in sanctuary counties compared to nonsanctuary counties.
Median household annual income is, on average, $4,353 higher in sanctuary counties compared to nonsanctuary counties.
The poverty rate is 2.3 percent lower, on average, in sanctuary counties compared to nonsanctuary counties.
Unemployment is, on average, 1.1 percent lower in sanctuary counties compared to nonsanctuary counties.
While the results hold true across sanctuary jurisdictions, the sanctuary counties with the smallest populations see the most pronounced effects.
The authors conclude, “Altogether, the data suggest that when local law enforcement focuses on keeping communities safe, rather than becoming entangled in federal immigration enforcement efforts, communities are safer and community members stay more engaged in the local economy.”
Please call your representatives today and demand they vote NO on H.R. 32 to protect immigrant communities, local decision-making, and essential public services. Find the number for your representative here.