North Carolina Republican, Rep. Ted Budd introduced a bill on Thursday that allows victims of crimes done by illegal immigrants to sue sanctuary cities if that is where the crime occurred.
The Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act would allow victims of any crimes up until 10 years ago to file a lawsuit with a sanctuary city. Illegal immigrants with past criminal convictions made up about 74% of arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2018, according to Pew Research Center.
“I’ve found that sanctuary cities’ failure to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) is reckless and has had a real cost on society, both economically and in terms of human lives,” Rep. Budd said in a press release Thursday.
The new bill was put forth after more areas in the U.S. have become so-called sanctuary cities, which means they will not assist the federal government with immigration enforcement. The bill would allow any victim of murder, rape or any felony at the hands of an illegal immigrant to bring a lawsuit against the state or sanctuary city if the city didn’t help with an immigration detainer request from the Department of Homeland Security.
Any victim can sue the city if the illegal immigrant “benefitted from a sanctuary policy of the sanctuary jurisdiction.” Another stipulation is that the victim “would not have been so injured or harmed but for the alien receiving the benefit of such sanctuary policy,” according to the bill.
“It strikes me as common sense to introduce and pursue legislation that allows families and victims recourse against municipalities and policies that have caused them so much damage,” Rep. Budd’s press release read. “Currently, they have none.”
His bill aims to make sanctuary cities accountable for not complying with DHS requests, and would require state and local government to waive immunity in order to receive certain federal grants, The Daily Caller reported.
Some of the grants given to sanctuary cities would also be limited under the new bill, and would only cover public works, administrative expenses, grants for research and more.
Cities that are now “sanctuary cities” include San Francisco, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, Newark, New Jersey and many more.
“I’m sick of hearing stories about illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities committing horrific crimes against American citizens. It’s time we do something about it,” said Republican Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne, who introduced the bill with Budd. “Not only will our legislation provide justice for victims, but it will push communities to abandon their reckless sanctuary policies and help disincentivize illegal immigration.”
