Community Safety or Immigration Enforcement? A False Choice.

An ICE officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen last week during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Protesters continue to clash with ICE nationwide, especially in sanctuary cities where local officials like Mayor Frey of Minneapolis have called on federal agents to leave.

This doesn’t have to be a choice between community safety and law enforcement.

Would Mayor Frey–and other sanctuary officials–be willing to:

• Rescind all sanctuary ordinances and laws;
• Sign on to cooperative 287(g) agreements;
• Give ICE access to all jails; and
• Require businesses to use E-Verify

These reforms would greatly reduce the need for ICE presence on the streets.

Absent these steps, Congress’ immigration laws are enforced almost entirely through at-large ICE arrests in sanctuary cities.

We can have a safer and more effective enforcement system–but only if elected officials stop blocking it.

Five days before the shooting, my colleague Joe Jenkins and I warned the sanctuary policies make immigration enforcement riskier and less predictable:

“Under sanctuary policies, local agencies decline to honor ICE detainers or share custody information. As a result, federal officers lose the chance to safely take custody of criminal aliens in jail and are instead forced to conduct “at-large” arrests in the community.”

E-Verify is especially necessary in sanctuary jurisdictions because it reduces the number of at-large arrests ICE must conduct.

Have Your Members of Congress Signed on to Great E-Verify Bills?

Explore the Grade Cards

Every Grade Card begins with the Great Solutions category–and E-Verify is listed first.