WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) continued his fight on Capitol Hill to protect our communities from violent criminals who are in the U.S. illegally by calling for action on his bill, the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act.
Senator Toomey has introduced legislation that would withhold certain federal funds from “sanctuary cities” – jurisdictions that forbid their law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration officials. Sen. Toomey also outlined a way President-elect Trump could help keep violent criminals off our streets by issuing an Executive Order.
During his speech today on the Senate floor, Sen. Toomey said:
“It is the legal policy of the City of Philadelphia to forbid local law enforcement from even cooperating – even sharing information with federal immigration officials when the person in question came here illegally. So we confer this special legal privilege on, in many cases, dangerous, violent criminals because they came here illegally. It’s just unbelievable.”
“I think it’s very clear we have to act. How important is the rule of law to all of us? How important is the safety and security of the American people? And how important are the childhoods of the victims that we are hearing about repeatedly as recently as just this week? To me, the answer is clear. These are very important priorities. And we need to act.”
The Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act received bipartisan support on the Senate floor in July. Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) joined Republicans in voting to move forward this commonsense measure to help keep our communities safe.
