In his whirlwind first week in the White House, President Donald Trump's 14 official presidential actions included four executive orders, one of which was to cut off funding to so-called "sanctuary cities" that refuse to turn over undocumented immigrants to federal law enforcement.

The Center for Immigration Studies has estimated that there are around 300 sanctuary jurisdictions in the U.S. that could lose federal funding if they do not change their sanctuary polices and refuse to comply with immigration officers seeking to deport illegal aliens.Reaction to Trump's sanctuary policy was swift. In California, San Francisco officials sued over the order, saying it was unconstitutional and an invasion of the city's sovereignty.Florida's Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez took a conciliatory approach, ordering county jails to comply with federal immigration detention requests. He explained that it made no financial sense to risk losing $355 million in federal funding during 2017 to protect illegal aliens with criminal records.According to a report from the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies, Miami-Dade County refused to honor 771 detainer requests from Jan. 1, 2014, to Sept. 30, 2015. That allowed at least 871 illegal aliens to remain in the U.S., including 575 with criminal records.Last month, Rep. Brian Babin of Texas reintroduced his Criminal Alien Deportation Enforcement Act in Congress, which would cut foreign aid and travel visas to countries that refuse to accept their illegal criminal aliens back into their country after they have been ordered deported from the U.S.Babin said in a press release that there's absolutely no reason that criminal aliens should be released back onto America's streets, yet "that is exactly what is happening by the thousands each and every year because their countries of origin refuse to take them back."Battle lines have also been drawn in Pennsylvania. State Sen. Guy Reschenthaler of Washington County says municipalities and counties across the commonwealth have violated immigration detainers in the past. Blatantly and in disregard of ICE directives or out of negligence, he said individuals have been turned loose and they go on to commit additional crimes of murder and sexual assault.Reschenthaler is sponsor of Senate Bill 10 that would bar Philadelphia from receiving state funding due to its sanctuary policies. He said the bill is really designed to protect families and strengthen local law enforcement.Democratic Sen. Vincent Hughes believes the bill violates immigrants' rights, explaining that we need to be very careful about having folks coming around our communities and "just snatching folks up" when there has not been a fully adjudicated process in place to determine if that is appropriate.Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney also urged senators to reject Senate Bill 10, calling it "an extreme reaction to a policy that hundreds of localities, including 19 in Pennsylvania, have been forced to adopt as a result of our broken national immigration system."Sen. Pat Toomey, who introduced the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act, was pleased with Trump's action, calling it a crucial issue of public safety. He said America has repeatedly seen the devastating effects of sanctuary city policies. He pointed to Philadelphia, citing how three child molesters - two charged and one convicted - were released onto the streets due to the city's policy.Toomey's legislation preserves an individual's right to sue if a law enforcement officer commits any violation of the individual's civil or constitutional rights.Last month, Congressman Lou Barletta introduced the Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act, which will stop all federal funds from flowing to states or localities that resist or ban enforcement of federal immigration laws, or flatly refuse to cooperate with immigration officials. He favors Trump's immigration order, pointing out that the terrorist group ISIS has indicated they would use the refugee programs to come into the U.S. He sees Trump's action as a first step in re-establishing control over America's borders until there's a proper screening process in place.According to DHS' official 2016 immigration enforcement report, sanctuary cities released more than 2,000 criminal illegal aliens back into their communities instead of working with ICE. Nearly 84 percent of the illegal aliens ICE deported last year were serious felons, national security risks or gang members, or were caught at the border. Thirteen percent had repeat misdemeanors or had illegally entered the U.S. after 2013.During his presidential campaign run, Trump vowed to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities in his first 100 days as president. Last week he served notice to the leaders from those 300 sanctuary jurisdictions that when it comes to the issue of criminal aliens and protecting U.S. citizens, he won't be backing down on that promise.By Jim Zbick |

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