Local and federal law enforcement can't get their stories straight about illegal alien murderer

Why wasn't Juan Emmanuel Razo-Ramirez, a Mexican national in the U.S. illegally, detained by Lake County sheriff's deputies during a July 7 "suspicious person" traffic stop and turned over to federal authorities for deportation?

If Ramirez had been detained, one woman would be alive, another wouldn't have been shot in the shoulder, and a young girl wouldn't have been terrified by an attempted rape by her uncle.

The finger-pointing between local law enforcement and DHS regarding who's to blame for not holding Ramirez is sickening, and it shows the Department of Homeland Security more interested in PR than actually enforcing the law.

Daily Caller:

On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for DHS told The Daily Caller that Lake County sheriff’s deputies had declined an offer to personally interview the illegal alien, 35-year-old Juan Emmanuel Razo-Ramirez, during a suspicious person stop on July 7. 

But the federal agency’s claim comes a day after Lake County sheriff Daniel Dunlap said in a press conference that Border Patrol told his deputies during that stop three weeks ago not to take Razo-Ramirez, a Mexican national, into custody.The competing claims offered by the two agencies is reminiscent of the discordance between U.S. Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement (ICE) and the San Francisco sheriff’s department over the detainment of Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, the five times-deported illegal alien who fatally shot Kate Steinle in San Francisco on July 1. Lopez-Sanchez was released by the sheriff’s department despite ICE’s detainer request because San Francisco is a sanctuary city.

Razo-Ramirez reportedly admitted to shooting Margaret Kostelnik in her home on Monday. The killing came hours after Razo-Ramirez allegedly tried to rape his niece, a 14-year-old girl, and then shot a 40-year-old woman in the shoulder in a park near Kostelnik’s house. After killing Kostelnik, who worked for 27 years as the assistant to the mayor of nearby Willoughby, Razo-Ramirez was apprehended following a brief standoff with police. 

In a press conference Tuesday, Sheriff Dunlap said that Razo-Ramirez was stopped July 7 by deputies because he was acting suspicious. According to a police report from the encounter, Razo-Ramirez admitted to the deputies that he was in the U.S. illegally. But Razo-Ramirez was eventually let go after a brief phone interview with a Border Patrol agent. According to the deputies’ report, Border Patrol “decided not to respond to take Emmanuel Razo into custody." 

But DHS provided a statement to The Daily Caller on Wednesday that seemed to dispute the Lake County sheriff’s department’s version of events.

The deputies insist that Ramirez said he was in the country illegally.  DHS says he was "uncooperative" in discussing his immigration status.  I believe the deputies, if only because they have less reason to lie.  They did their jobs – stopping a potential criminal and calling ICE when they found out he was here illegally.  It's not surprising that Ramirez would tell the deputies he was an illegal alien and not ICE, but why didn't the feds believe the locals and have them turn Ramirez over to them? 

Another preventable tragedy brought to you by our immigration enforcement officials.

Via: American Thinker

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Soda Wars: Business Groups Sue San Francisco To Defend First Amendment

A trio of business groups is suing San Francisco to protect the First Amendment rights of companies that sell and market sugary drinks.

On 24 July, the California Retailers Association, the American Beverage Association and the California State Outdoor Advertising Association filed a lawsuit to prevent mandatory warning labels on soda ads. The San Francisco ordinance, which was passed in June by nine votes to zero would cover soda ads on billboards, buses, transit shelters, posters and stadiums.

The plaintiffs argue “the city is trying to ensure that there is no free marketplace of ideas, but instead only a government-imposed, one-sided public ‘dialogue’ on the topic — in violation of the First Amendment.” They hope the District Court will overturn the city government’s decision.

The label, which must cover 20 percent of the ad, reads “WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.” The labels mimic warning signs placed on cigarette packs.

Drink manufacturers will not only have to comply with producing warning labels but will be subject to a wave of new restrictions. Baylen Linnekin, chief executive of Keep Food Legal, writes, “the law would prohibit soda makers from identifying the products they sell while protesting against the law on public space. It bars ads advertising soda, Frappuccinos, or some Jamba juices on public property.”

Linnekin identifies two violations of the First Amendment in the city ordinance. One being the government preventing speech with which it disagrees and two, compelling the speaker to switch their language to that preferred by the government.

Government efforts to label certain products with health warnings have taken a knock in recent years. The California plaintiffs may draw hope from the 2012 case where tobacco companies won a major victory after a federal appeals court struck down requirements for cigarette packs to display graphic health warnings.

Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the District of Columbia Circuit, who voted with the majority in the case, wrote ”this case raises novel questions about the scope of the government’s authority to force the manufacturer of a product to go beyond making purely factual and accurate commercial disclosures and undermine its own economic interest — in this case, by making ‘every single pack of cigarettes in the country a mini billboard’ for the government’s antismoking message.”

The Food and Drug Administration which was pursuing the policy has not attempted to reintroduce the graphic labels.

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Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation

Via: California Political Review

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UNIONS CONTINUE TO SEEK WAIVER FROM L.A. MINIMUM WAGE HIKE

Unions in Los Angeles are again seeking to exempt their workers from the $15 minimum wage hike for which they pushed earlier this year.

The minimum wage hike is set to take effect in 2020. Unions want companies that employ their workers to be exempted from the new minimum wage, in a bid to increase unionization and union membership.

@mattdpearce Because they’re hypocrites? Unions also wanted exemption from Obamacare, after lobbying heavily to pass it.

— Johnson Brian (@BikeSwimRun26) July 27, 2015

Head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Rusty Hicks, told the Los Angeles Times in May that virtually “every [California] city that has passed a minimum wage include this kind of a provision.” The Times reportedly found inconsistencies with this statement pointing out that “San Diego, the largest California city to raise its minimum wage in recent years before L.A., did not include such an exception.”

The attempt has created divisions among union and labor leaders.

Drastic increases in the minimum wage by the West Coast’s liberal cities have forced manysmall businesses to close, including San Francisco’s beloved Borderlands Books; many other small businesses are expected to follow. Some economists have warned that the minimum wage hike will also raise youth unemployment.

The higher wages have also forced many business establishments to reduce their workforces, and fast-food chains are increasingly replacing human beings with computers.

Minimum Wage Hikes Result in McDonalds Closing Doors. We Told You…http://t.co/dWjUUh8IPD via @scrowder

— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) July 26, 2015

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz and on Facebook.

Via: Breitbart

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San Francisco combats the stench of urine with pee-repellant paint

Don't get into a pissing match with walls in San Francisco.

The city's Public Works agency is testing a pee-repellant paint on walls in areas that have been saturated with urine. Anyone urinating on the specially treated walls will get the spray splashed back onto them.

San Francisco's director of public works, Mohammed Nuru - whose Twitter handle is @MrCleanSF - got the idea when he read on social media about the use of the paint in Hamburg, Germany's nightclub district to stop beer drinkers from relieving themselves in the street.

The paint, called Ultra-Ever Dry, is sold by Ultratech International Inc and is billed as a superhydrophobic coating that will repel most liquids.

"The urine will bounce back on the guys pants and shoes. The idea is they will think twice next time about urinating in public," said Rachel Gordon, a Public Works Department spokeswoman. She said the super-hard coating made the "bounce back" effect much stronger than when peeing on a regular wall.

In a pilot program, San Francisco last week painted nine walls in areas around bars and other areas with big homeless populations.

Via: Reuters

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The ‘Donald Trump Act’ Just Passed The House By A Landslide, And Obama Doesn’t Like It One Bit

The House passed a bill Thursday which would punish cities that refuse to enforce federal immigration law.

H.R. 3009 passed easily in the lower chamber 241 to 179, The Hill reported. The bill would force local law enforcement agencies to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they have an illegal immigrant in custody; otherwise, certain federal law enforcement grants would be withheld.

“I think we can all agree that any state or locality must comply with the law—and they are required to coordinate and cooperate with the federal government,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who sponsored the legislation. “If an arrest is made, the federal government should be notified. The fact that San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities disagree with the politics of federal enforcement doesn’t mean they should receive a pass to subvert the law.”

“And if they do, there needs to be consequences—and the way we impose those consequences is by hitting them where it hurts. In the pocketbook,” Hunter added.

The bill was passed after 32-year-old Kate Steinle was murdered earlier this month, allegedly by an illegal immigrant who was deported from the U.S. multiple times and convicted of several felonies.

Hunter’s bill was voted on largely across party lines. Reps. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, Bob Dold of Illinois, Dan Donovan and Peter King of New York, and Dave Reichert of Washington were the only GOP members of Congress to vote against the measure. Six Democrats voted for the bill: Reps. Ami Bera of California, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Bill Keating of Massachusetts, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, and Krysten Sinema of Arizona.

Opponents of the bill have tied it to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who in a statement earlier this week labeled the proposal the “Donald Trump Act.” Pelosi went on to call the bill a “wildly partisan, misguided bill that second-guesses the decisions of police chiefs around the country about how to best ensure public safety.”

“Just a few weeks into his campaign and Donald Trump has a bill on the floor of the House. That is better than some of the senators he’s running against,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a fierce opponent of conservative immigration measures, told The Hill Thursday.

Via: Western Journalism

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Illegal Alien Crime Wave in Texas: 611,234 Crimes, 2,993 Murders

The murder of Kathryn Steinle on the Embarcadero in San Francisco by an illegal alien is the most familiar example of a crime committed by an alien.  But an unreleased internal report by the Texas Department of Public Safety reveals that aliens have been involved in thousands of crimes in Texas alone, including nearly 3,000 homicides.

PJ Media obtained an never-before-released copy of a Texas DPS report on human smuggling containing the numbers of crimes committed by aliens in Texas.   According to the analysis conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, foreign aliens committed 611,234 unique crimes in Texas from 2008 to 2014, including thousands of homicides and sexual assaults.

The murder of Kathryn Steinle on the Embarcadero in San Francisco by an illegal alien is the most familiar example of a crime committed by an alien.  But an unreleased internal report by the Texas Department of Public Safety reveals that aliens have been involved in thousands of crimes in Texas alone, including nearly 3,000 homicides.

PJ Media obtained an never-before-released copy of a Texas DPS report on human smuggling containing the numbers of crimes committed by aliens in Texas.   According to the analysis conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, foreign aliens committed 611,234 unique crimes in Texas from 2008 to 2014, including thousands of homicides and sexual assaults.

That means that the already stratospheric aggregate crime totals would be even higher if crimes by many illegal aliens who are not in the fingerprint database were included.

Confessed Texas killer Juan Vasquez

The Secure Communities initiative is an information-sharing program between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. Presumably, both departments would have data on the number of fingerprint searches conducted that revealed a criminal act involved an alien.

Texas has been ground zero in illegal alien crossings into the United States.  The Texas DPS report shows that in the Rio Grande Valley, 154,453 illegal aliens were apprehended in 2013.

Via: PJ Media

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The Shut-In Economy

Angel the concierge stands behind a lobby desk at a luxe apartment building in downtown San Francisco, and describes the residents of this imperial, 37-story tower. “Ubers, Squares, a few Twitters,” she says. “A lot of work-from-homers.”

And by late afternoon on a Tuesday, they’re striding into the lobby at a just-get-me-home-goddammit clip, some with laptop bags slung over their shoulders, others carrying swank leather satchels. At the same time a second, temporary population streams into the building: the app-based meal delivery people hoisting thermal carrier bags and sacks. Green means Sprig. A huge M means Munchery. Down in the basement, Amazon Prime delivery people check in packages with the porter. The Instacart groceries are plunked straight into a walk-in fridge.

This is a familiar scene. Five months ago I moved into a spartan apartment a few blocks away, where dozens of startups and thousands of tech workers live. Outside my building there’s always a phalanx of befuddled delivery guys who seem relieved when you walk out, so they can get in. Inside, the place is stuffed with the goodies they bring: Amazon Prime boxes sitting outside doors, evidence of the tangible, quotidian needs that are being serviced by the web. The humans who live there, though, I mostly never see. And even when I do, there seems to be a tacit agreement among residents to not talk to one another. I floated a few “hi’s” in the elevator when I first moved in, but in return I got the monosyllabic, no-eye-contact mumble. It was clear:Lady, this is not that kind of building.

Back in the elevator in the 37-story tower, the messengers do talk, one tells me. They end up asking each other which apps they work for: Postmates. Seamless. EAT24. GrubHub. Safeway.com. A woman hauling two Whole Foods sacks reads the concierge an apartment number off her smartphone, along with the resident’s directions: “Please deliver to my door.”

Via: Medium

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GUTIERREZ: STEINLE DEATH ‘A LITTLE THING’

Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) explained on Telemundo that the murder of Kate Steinle was just “a little thing” and every time an extreme example like this occurs, it’s used to eliminate. He is referring to sanctuary cities.

Under Barack Obama’s guidelines, deportations of criminal illegal aliens are down by more than 42%. At least 30,000 criminal illegal aliens are released each year since Barack Obama has been in office, but 2013 was a banner year with with more than 68,000 criminal illegal aliens let out onto our streets.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte released the data which also showed that the 30,558 criminal aliens ICE knowingly released back into the community in 2014 had amassed nearly 80,000 convictions, including 250 homicides, 186 kidnappings and 373 sexual assaults.

Also according to the statistics, the aliens released by ICE had amassed 13,636 convictions for driving under the influence, 1,589 weapons offenses, 99 aggravated assaults, 56 arsons and 31 smuggling offenses.

Their criminal convictions in their home country are never considered.

In May of this year, the Obama administration’s Police Task Force had a new “recommendation” that law enforcement better follow. Local police are no longer to report illegal alien felons to any agency that could deport them.

Local, State and County law enforcement will no longer have any jurisdiction over this class of criminal when it comes to deportation – Homeland Security will have sole responsibility.

In 2014, ICE reported that there are more than 870,000 aliens, including criminals, on its docket who have been ordered removed, but who remain in defiance of the law.

When the criminal illegal aliens are released onto our streets, they are spread out in a number of zip codes. You can check those on this link.

Let’s go through a few more of the “little things”.

Haitian immigrant Jean Jacques, who was released from prison in January after serving a sentence for attempted murder, is accused of murdering a 25-year old Connecticut woman, Casey Chadwick, on June 15th and stuffing her body in a closet.

His prison file was marked “Detainer: Immigration”. Connecticut officials say he was released in January to the custody of the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

His crimes included the illegal use of a gun during a 1996 deadly shooting. ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer said he can’t talk about it.

An Illegal alien from Chiapas, Mexico, Aurelio Hernandez-Gomex, 23, pictured above, kidnapped a 13-year-old girl from Polk County, Florida last week and brought her to a house in Michigan, according to police.

He is charged with kidnapping and rape, according to The Ledger.

Sue Payne hosted the Pat McDonough Show in Baltimore on July 11th. She spoke first to former representative Tom Tancredo and he mentioned one case in Colorado that was particularly upsetting to him.

Via: Independent Sentinel

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[EDITORIAL] S.F. 'sanctuary' policy violates common sense: Our view

A little bit of common sense and discretion might have prevented the killing this month in San Francisco of Kathryn Steinle — a victim not only of random gunfire but of the mindless handling of the city's immigration policy.

Her accused killer is Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant who had a felony drug record going back 20 years, had been deported five timesand had repeatedly sneaked back into the USA (which raises serious questions about border security that the current, polarized debate isn't addressing in a helpful way).

OPPOSING VIEW: Sanctuary policy makes San Francisco safer

Lopez-Sanchez was in the San Francisco County jail in April and should have been deported yet again. Federal immigration authorities had lodged a "detainer," seeking to get custody and do just that. All they needed was a call or other contact from the sheriff's office.

The contact was never made, not because of some ghastly mistake or miscommunication but because of a city ordinance that prohibits police from honoring detainers except in rare cases. And, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, because of a policy by the local sheriff that bars contact with immigration authorities. After a local charge against Lopez-Sanchez was dropped, he was held for three weeks, then put on the street.

On July 1, less than three months later, Steinle, 32, was dead, collateral damage in a long-running feud between the local and federal governments over deportation.

San Francisco is one of nearly 300 cities and counties across the country with sanctuary laws or policies aimed at separating federal immigration enforcement from local policing, in order to build trust between immigrant communities and local police. The reasoning goes like this: If immigrants, including millions of undocumented ones, see local police officers as a tool for deportation, they will not report crimes or come forward as witnesses, even when they are victims, and public safely will suffer.

In that context, there's a certain logic to the "sanctuary" idea, but not when carried to extremes. Sanctuary policies set by cities, counties and states differ from place to place, but San Francisco's violates all common sense. Protecting a hard-working undocumented immigrant charged with a misdemeanor is one thing. Putting a long-term felon and serial illegal entrant on the street is the antithesis of ensuring public safety.

That's especially true when there is a more reasonable approach, one used, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, by many police departments under sanctuary laws. Officers pick up the phone to call immigration when they plan to release potentially dangerous immigrants wanted for deportation. Immigration comes to pick them up.

Kathryn Steinle's death ought to be a cause for sober reevaluation of sanctuary policies. Without a cease-fire and a working agreement in this war that has pitted local law enforcement against federal immigration authorities, there will be more innocent casualties.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

Via: USA Today

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[VIDEO] Sanctuary Cities Beyond Federal Control, Homeland Security Chief Jeh Johnson Says

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson admitted Tuesday that the administration goofed in releasing an illegal immigrant to sanctuary city San Francisco ahead of a shocking murder earlier this month, but said there’s little the government can do to pressure sanctuary communities to change their minds.

Facing lawmakers for the first time since the slaying of Kathryn Steinle, a 32-year-old killed while out walking with her father, Mr. Johnson said he’s made personal appeals to San Francisco to rethink its refusal to let police cooperate with federal immigration agents, and will try again in the wake of the killing.

But he declined to criticize sanctuary cities themselves, and told Congress not to try to pass laws forcing cooperation, saying it could conflict with the Constitution, and it won’t win over the hearts of reluctant communities.

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SEE ALSO: Jeh Johnson: No contact with family of S.F. victim, not sure about Obama

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“My hope is that jurisdictions like San Francisco — San Francisco County — will cooperate with our new program,” he told the House Judiciary Committee. “I’m making the rounds with a lot of jurisdictions. My deputy secretary and I and other leaders in DHS have been very, very active for the purpose of promoting public safety to get jurisdictions to cooperate with us on this.”

He said several dozen jurisdictions who had previously refused to cooperate have already signed up or signaled interest in working with the new Priority Enforcement Program.

Republicans doubted that asking nicely would work with the five cities and counties that have turned Mr. Johnson down already, and they wondered why he and President Obama didn’t want to get tougher on the recalcitrant ones.

“How in the hell can a city tell you ‘No’?” demanded Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican. “And when a young woman is shot walking with her father, with somebody with this resume, either you got to do something, we got to do something, or maybe we can do it together.”

Steinle’s death has refocused the immigration debate, which, for the last few years, had been won by immigrant rights advocates arguing for more lenient treatment for illegal immigrants, symbolized by the most sympathetic category of the Dreamers, young adult illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

Now, Steinle’s slaying — and the suspect, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, deported five times before and out on the streets after San Francisco refused to hold him for pickup by immigration agents — has put attention on victims of illegal immigration.

Via: Washington Times

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[VIDEO] CRUZ: ‘THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUPPORTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION’

Texas Senator and Republican presidential candidate 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

96%

argued “the Democratic Party supports illegal immigration” on Tuesday’s “On the Record” on the Fox News Channel.

Cruz said that sanctuary cities were a “persistent problem” where “you’ve got, often Democratic, mayors who are elected from the far left and who decline enforce the law. Now, it varies in terms of how brazen it is. It’s not always as brazen as San Francisco is, but it’s a problem when you have cities that are in the control of the Democrats and don’t want to follow the law.” And “they disagree with the law, and so they’re ignoring it.” Before touting legislation to cut off federal funding with sanctuary cities.

Cruz was then asked why the federal government has not passed legislation to force compliance with the law, he responded, “Well, it’s because the Democratic Party supports illegal immigration. … They don’t even call it illegal immigration. They’ve come up with this ‘undocumented’ term because they don’t acknowledge  — I’m reminded of a famous exchange where Sonny Bono, years ago — remember the former congressman? Was asked, ‘What’s your view on illegal immigration?’ He said [paraphrasing] ‘Well, It’s illegal, isn’t it?’ In 2013, the Obama administration released 36,000 criminals, people with criminal convictions who were illegal aliens. They released them publicly, 116 of them were murderers, they had homicide convictions. Over 15,000 of the criminal aliens the Obama administration released had convictions for drunk driving. These are Democrats that are endangering the security of this country by refusing to follow our laws, and it’s wrong.”

He also commented on the Iran deal, stating, “It is catastrophic. If it goes through, it will result in funding terrorism. It will endanger the lives of Americans. It will endanger Israel.” And vowed to “repudiate it on day one” if elected president.

Via: Breitbart

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‘The Law Is the Law!': Megyn Kelly, Jose Antonio Vargas Face Off over Sanctuary Cities

Fox’s Megyn Kelly and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas tussled tonight over “sanctuary cities” and whether cities with those laws need to be changed following the death of Kate Steinle.

Vargas said the issue here squarely comes down to ICE not acting when they could have issued a warrant for the killer’s arrest. He pointed out that sanctuary cities are beneficial for immigrants who “can actually report to police.”

Kelly still insisted, “The law is the law, and fidelity to the law is what binds us together.”

Vargas––who has made it clear he wants the media to start calling out Donald Trump on this issue––made it clear that the San Francisco killer doesn’t represent millions of other illegal immigrants. Kelly agreed that anyone making that leap is “engaging in hyperbole,” but still called sanctuary cities “lawless.”

Watch the video below, via Fox News:

Via: Mediaite

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POLL: MAJORITY OF VOTERS WANT DOJ ACTION AGAINST SANCTUARY CITIES

A majority of likely voters say action should be taken against jurisdictions with sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey.

The poll found that 62 percent of likely voters think the Justice Department “should take legal action against cities that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants.” Just 26 percent opposed the idea, and 12 percent were undecided.

On the separate question of whether the federal government should cut off funds to sanctuary cities, 58 percent of likely voters agreed, 32 percent disagreed, and 10 percent were undecided. Rasmussen notes that the results for this question have seen little movement since 2011.

The results come on the heels of the murder of Kathryn Steinle by a multiple-deportee, multiple-felon in San Francisco, a sanctuary city. Since her murder, law makers have introduced legislation to halt certain funding for such jurisdictions and requested the Justice Department take action to discourage such policies.

Rasmussen notes that Republicans and unaffiliated respondents were more likely to support actions against sanctuary cities than Democrats.

In 2013, when Judicial Watch and Breitbart News surveyed support for sanctuary cities, 51 percent of Americans either “strongly oppose[d]” (31 percent) or “somewhat oppose[d]” (20 percent) such policies.

The poll of 1,000 likely U.S. voters was conducted from July 8-9 and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

Via: Breitbart

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