“The common understanding is that immigrants are allowed to avoid deportation proceedings in jurisdictions broadly known as “sanctuary cities”. . . . Indeed what drove these communities was the documented reality that most sanctuary cities have less violent crime, that members of immigrant communities are often the victims of crimes and are often too afraid to work with law enforcement to implicate those in their midst, for fear of being deported.” – California Killing Not About ‘Sanctuary Cities,’ Juliette Kayyem, cnn.com.
Fact Check: The words of the alleged killer referenced in the title of this article directly contradicts the claim that the killing was “not about sanctuary cities.” That suspect, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, confessed to the fatal shooting Kate Steinle in San Francisco. An illegal alien with five felony convictions, said he choose to live in San Francisco because it was a “sanctuary city” where he didn’t have to worry about local law enforcement cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
Sanctuary cities are illegal under the 1996 immigration act, which requires this cooperation. But these cities ignore the law, and the Obama administration lets them get away with it. Municipal leaders often choose this stance because they see a political advantage in catering to illegal aliens and the interests that support them. One excuse they often use is that working with federal enforcement will make members of illegal alien communities afraid to cooperate in criminal investigations for fear they will be detected and arrested.
The most extensive study done on this question was commissioned by Prince William County, Virginia, to determine the impact of its steps to assist immigration law enforcement. Conducting it were independent researchers from the University of Virginia and the Police Executive Research Forum (a Ford Foundation group). The study concluded that cooperation between the country and the federal government did not have a lasting negative impact on police/community relations.
Of course, this potential problem wouldn’t exist in the first place if we had effective immigration law enforcement. In that situation we wouldn’t have illegal alien communities. But that is not the direction where we’ve been moving. Since President Obama took office, his administration has systematically undermined enforcement at all levels of government. A recent study by the Migration Institute found that nearly 90 percent of the illegal aliens in the U.S. are in no danger of deportation. If indeed any illegal alien indeed fears that cooperation with police will rise deportation, he can pretty much lay that fear to rest.
It may be that most sanctuary cities have less violent crime. But crime rates vary from city to city for a lot of reasons other than immigration law enforcement. The relevant question to ask is whether sanctuary policies allow more violent crime in sanctuary cities that they would otherwise have. The tragic death of Kate Steinle certainly suggests an answer.