House GOP backs bills to crack down on illegal immigration
The House on Thursday voted to crack down on unauthorized immigrants and localities that shelter them, approving two bills President Donald Trump has championed but that are certain to meet resistance in the Senate.
The legislation from the Republican-controlled House would increase prison sentences for those re-entering the country illegally and pressure sanctuary cities to comply with federal immigration officials, including through cutting federal funds.
While the measures gave the president a win, they would need Democratic support to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, an unlikely prospect.
House Republicans trumpeted the immigration-related bills as common-sense measures to bolster public safety.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly made an unusual appearance at the Capitol to praise the bills. He criticized sanctuary cities — a broad term for localities that limit how local law enforcement officials cooperate with federal immigration officials — saying they prioritize “criminals over public and law enforcement officer safety.”
The bills touch on immigration issues that were central to Trump’s presidential campaign that he has revisited as president and tried to address through executive action. On Wednesday, meeting with families of victims of crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants, Trump called on lawmakers to pass the bills.
Though Senate passage of the House bills seemed unlikely, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican, is working on a broader border security bill that would incorporate aspects of the legislation, including defunding sanctuary cities, two Senate aides said.
One of the House bills, known as the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, potentially broadens the pool of money that cities could lose for not cooperating with federal immigration officials. It also seeks to indemnify local law enforcement officials who detain immigrants on behalf of federal authorities from lawsuits, making the federal government the defendant in such cases. The bill passed 228-195 in party-line vote.
The other bill, known as Kate’s Law, stiffens penalties for immigrants guilty of felony re-entry. The bill is named for Kathryn Steinle, who was shot to death in San Francisco in 2015, reportedly by a Mexican laborer who had been deported multiple times and was in the United States illegally. The bill passed 257-167, with 24 Democrats joining Republicans in supporting the measure.