Wednesday, a federal district court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sided with the City of Philadelphia over whether the Department of Justice could withhold law enforcement grants from cities with sanctuary city policies.
In a classless reaction, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney was filmed engaging in a staged “happy dance” with his chief of staff.
A sanctuary city or municipality is one that has a policy of not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement officials to protect illegal aliens.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 90 percent of illegal aliens they arrest have a past or pending criminal conviction.
Both Tom Wolf and Bob Casey, in their silence and complicity in allowing sanctuary cities to continue, stand with illegal aliens and not with the rule of law.
Republican nominee for Governor, Scott Wagner; and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Lou Barletta have both supported policies requiring cities to follow the law.
When he was in the Senate, Scott Wagner was a cosponsor of Senate Bill 10, legislation that would ban Pennsylvania counties or municipalities from designating themselves as sanctuaries for illegal aliens and withhold state law enforcement grants from counties or municipalities refusing to cooperate with a lawful order from federal immigration enforcement officials.
In a statement on the legislation the Governor’s office said he had “concerns” with the bill since “the federal government must enforce its own immigration policy.”
Similarly, Bob Casey opposed legislation sponsored by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to crackdown on sanctuary cities and flippantly commented that law enforcement doesn’t “need another job” when it comes to enforcing immigration policy.
Casey has also fundraised with pro-sanctuary city group “Protect and Elect.”
On the other hand, Congressman Lou Barletta has been an outspoken voice on the need for the rule of law to prevail on the illegal alien issue.
In response to yesterday’s ruling, Barletta was quoted as saying:
“It is an outrage that politicians like Bob Casey and Jim Kenney celebrate policies that put illegal immigrants who have broken our laws ahead of the safety of American families.
“By continuing to support dangerous sanctuary city policies, Bob Casey is putting at risk the safety of every American and legal immigrant family. There should be no sanctuary for illegal activity in the United States, yet Jim Kenney and Bob Casey continue to operate with complete disregard for public safety and our laws.”
Additionally, Thursday, Jason Gottesman, Director of Communications for the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, made the following statement:
“In order to score points with the national liberal-progressive movement, Tom Wolf and Bob Casey continue to support lawlessness rather than the rule of law.
“In so doing, they put at risk the well-being of citizens across Pennsylvania by potentially letting violent criminals and rapists out on the streets. They also set a dangerous precedent on how government officials should work to respect our laws, our security, and our freedom.”
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