Sanctuary Cities Defunding Bill, Kate's Law Pass House

WASHINGTON, DC — The House of Representatives passed a bill on sanctuary cities and a bill known as Kate's Law, which would target immigrants who have been deported for committing crimes.

The sanctuary cities bill would block federal grants to municipalities that decline to fully cooperate with federal authorities to enforce immigration. It passed 228-195, largely along party lines. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"Kate's Law" was named for Kate Steinle, who was killed by an undocumented immigrant. It would impose harsher penalties on immigrants who are deported for crimes but return to the United States. It passed with a vote of 257-167, with mostly Republican support.

This legislation comes as part of a push, championed by President Trump's campaign, to crack down on immigration-related crime.

"I applaud the House for passing two crucial measures to save and protect American lives," Trump said in a statement. "The implementation of these policies will make our communities safer. Opposing these bills, and allowing dangerous criminals back into our communities, our schools, and the neighborhoods where our children play, puts all of us at risk."

He continued: "Now that the House has acted, I urged the Senate to take up these bills, pass them, and send them to my desk. I am calling on all lawmakers to vote for these bills and to save American lives."

In an op-ed for the Nevada Independent, writer Michael Kagan criticized the push for these laws. "The claims against sanctuary cities are mostly spurious, belied by the fact that cities with more favorable policing policies toward immigrants generally have lower crime rates," he wrote.

He added: "The sanctuary city label has given politicians on the right a phantom menace to oppose, while distracting from the difficult, street level policy choices that local and state governments actually need to wrestle with."

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