A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters favor a cutoff of federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities. Just 28% are opposed and 13% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
However, only 29% of voters think Congress is even somewhat likely to agree to cut off funds to cities that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Twice as many, 55% say Congress is unlikely to take such an action. Those figures include 9% who say Congress is Very Likely to act and 11% who say action is Not At All Likely. Seventeen percent (17%) are not sure.
Regardless of Congressional action, 58% of voters think the U.S. Justice Department should take legal action against cities that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Twenty-six percent (26%) are opposed to having the Justice Department prosecute sanctuary cities and 16% are not sure. Those figures have changed little since last summer.
As Obama is in Texas harping on "the broken immigration system", polling shows that the majority of Americans want something done about Sanctuary cities, to the point of wanting them punished for refusing to obey the law.
What is the Obama administration doing to those that are flaunting their refusal?
Not a thing.
Liberal officials in both Illinois and San Francisco last week announced that they will no longer participate in the the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program, preferring instead to allow criminal illegal aliens to roam the streets. While the White House has not responded to the immigration retreat, some in Congress want action. “The Obama administration has said that states and localities cannot opt out of Secure Communities, so the administration should make sure that all states comply with this mandatory program,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith told me Monday.
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Officially, DHS and ICE insist that they are strong supporters of the program. “Secure Communities is a critical part of transforming our approach to immigration enforcement by focusing our resources on those in our country illegally, who have also broken criminal laws,” said ICE Public Affairs Director Brian Hale. And while DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano has said that local states and cities do not have the right to opt out of the program, she has not done anything to enforce the requirement that lawbreaking illegals be held until ICE can take custody.
Unofficially, the Obama administration will not force states or cities to adhere to the federal program. Illinois and San Francisco can let their criminal illegals out of jail immediately after booking, without checking their fingerprints with the DHS database, and there are no consequences from Washington.
More from Rasmussen:
Just 17% support the creation of sanctuary cities in which some illegal immigrants are not turned over to federal immigration authorities unless they are convicted of committing a felony crime. Sixty-five percent (65%) oppose the establishment of sanctuary cities. Nearly one-in-five voters (18%) are undecided about them. This marks little change from October 2009.
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A number of U.S. cities, ranging from big ones like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City to smaller ones like Cambridge, Massachusetts; Austin, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico, have either declared themselves sanctuary cities or refuse to work with federal immigration authorities as police department policy.
Once again, Barack Obama is refusing to enforce the laws of the country when the majority of voters want those laws enforced, yet he dares give speeches talking about "the broken system" and suggests amnesty for illegals?
Enforce the laws on the books, punish those refusing to obey the laws instead of states like AZ that are trying to deal with the system breakdown and the Obama administration's incompetence and unwillingness to protect our borders and then and only then talk about "reform".
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