Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said Democrats will do everything they can to stop legislation that would outlaw sanctuary cities.
“It’s pretty likely from everything we’ve seen that Democrats are going to do everything they can to stop this bill that would basically outlaw sanctuary cities,” York said on Fox Business’s Kudlow Friday.
York pointed to agreements between the federal government and local law enforcement, which give local authorities the ability to make some immigration arrests.
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“You’ve seen some blue cities double down on [sanctuary city policies],” York said. “But what’s interesting is you’re seeing a lot of action on the other side that you’re not hearing as much about. For example, there is this program where the federal government gives local agencies, law enforcement agencies to make some immigration arrests.”
“So, they make an agreement between ICE and the local authorities,” York added.
York also said the number of these agreements has increased since President Donald Trump’s second term began.
“At the end of the Biden administration, there were about 135 such agreements all across the country. At the end of this January, there were 1,168 such agreements,” York said. “That’s a big change.”
York said, “You would think” that legislation banning sanctuary cities would pass because two-thirds of Americans support it.
“It is clearly a step of progress that we see in the polls and we see it is supported by what’s going on with those agreements between ICE and local agents,” York added.
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York also said even if the legislation was passed, Democrats would still try to stop it from going into effect.
“Even if it did pass, and was signed by the president, it would certainly face court challenges.”