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Cities around the United States that are refusing to cooperate with federal authorities to enforce immigration laws like to call themselves “sanctuary cities,” and they tend to promote the idea that all illegal aliens living there are all the salt of the earth.
After Timothy Robbins, who is the acting executive associate director for enforcement and removal operations for the federal government, was grilled by Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the committee, launched into a spirited defense of Robbins and the efforts of federal authorities to deport illegal immigrants.
Robbins testified to the committee that sanctuary cities were producing many negative consequences for the country, such as crime. Democrat members then asked Robbins if there were any nonviolent criminals among the illegal immigrants who had been released by local authorities in sanctuary cities. Robbins said there were, to which some Democrat members held up a “grandmother in Chicago” as an example of a person being protected.
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Clearly, the Democrats wanted to leave the impression that sanctuary cities are simply a justifiable humanitarian policy.
Cruz, however, would have none of that. The Texas Republican asked Robbins a series of questions that spotlighted the false premise of the Democrat questions.
But before he asked any questions, Cruz offered an apology for how some members of the committee had treated him. “Mr. Robbins, let me start by saying thank you to all the men and women of ICE. To the law enforcement officers who risk their lives each and every day, I want to apologize to the men and women of ICE for the vilification, for the demonization that happens every day in our political discourse and that sadly happens from far too many politicians in this town, who abuse law-enforcement officers who are keeping us safe.” (Video of hearing can be linked to here. Cruz segment begins at 1:42:30)
Cruz added, “I have been blessed to get to know and to work with ICE officers, Border Patrol officers. And these are agents who are risking their lives every day. Our communities are safer because of them.”
Cruz then zeroed in on the political propaganda he felt that some of the Democrats on the committee had been perpetrating with their slanted questions. “I have to say when I’m home in Texas, Texans are angry about this discussion about this political farce that we’re seeing. Some of our Democratic colleagues have asked you questions, ‘Well, isn’t it true that some of the illegal aliens that sanctuary cities are releasing are nonviolent?’ You answered with the rather obvious answer of, ‘Yes, some of them are nonviolent.’”
“Let me ask you the other side of it,” Cruz said to Robbins. “Are sanctuary cities releasing violent murderers.”
“Yes,” Robbins answered.
Cruz then asked a series of related questions of Robbins, to all of which he answered yes.
• “Are sanctuary cities releasing rapists?”
• “Are sanctuary cities releasing people who have committed child molestation?”
• “Are sanctuary cities releasing people who are guilty of domestic violence?”
• “Are they releasing people who have committed drunk-driving offenses?
Cruz accused the Democrats of opposing his bill (cosponsored with Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican), known as the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act, of giving protection to criminal illegal aliens, rather than to their victims.
Cruz then returned to his defense of those agents. “Thank you for the officer tonight who’s out on the line, who’s knocking on that door of an MS-13 agent, who doesn’t know if he’s gonna meet a machine-gun on the other side of that door, a machete — he doesn’t know what he’s gonna face. But he or she is going through that door to keep us safe. Thank you for that.”
As Cruz also said, the Democrats and other supporters of open borders (which includes far too many Republicans) like to make the issue about some grandmother in Chicago. “No, this is not about a grandmother in Chicago.”
Since July, at least eight illegal aliens have been arrested in one county in Maryland on sexual offense charges. Sanctuary city policies make it more difficult to remove criminals from the country, or placed in prison.
One problem — among many — in getting control of the problem of illegal-immigrant criminal activity comes from some in the religious community who use arguments that the Bible supports open borders. The argument goes something like this: The people of ancient Israel were told to be kind to “strangers” in their land because they themselves were “strangers” in the land of Egypt.
Of course, these same people neglect to mention that the ancient Hebrews were invited into Egypt — they were not in the land illegally, and they were expected to follow the laws of Egypt while they were there. Any Hebrews committing murder, robbery, and rape would not have been protected in some “sanctuary city” in Egypt.
Neither would those “strangers” residing in ancient Israel have been protected from punishment after committing violent crimes.
Those in religious communities who use such arguments to support open borders and sanctuary cities, without recognizing the facts as presented by Senator Cruz, should ask themselves if they want to be seen as leaving American citizens and legal residents to violence perpetrated by illegal aliens protected in so-called sanctuary cities?
Image of Ted Cruz: Screenshot from senate.gov
Steve Byas is an instructor of history and government and author of the book, History’s Greatest Libels. He can be contacted at [email protected]
