Are Sanctuary Cities Actually Safe?

Are Sanctuary Cities Actually Safe?

Sanctuary city or cities are over 100 cities and Counties in the United States have come to accept but they are a violation of political and immigration laws and should not be legal. For illegal immigrants, sanctuary cities are a place of refuge but for citizens, it is dangerous and risky. Many jurisdictions claim that they will stay a sanctuary city and will refuse to comply with immigration policy. Which raises the question: should these sanctuary cities be legal? Due to the fact that these sanctuary cities are not only a blatant violation of the federal law, they have also caused crime to rise in many cities and therefore should not be allowed in the United States.

Sanctuary cities are a direct violation of the law. Throughout the United States, there are over 140 sanctuary jurisdictions, which includes many major cities and counties. (Carcamo, Mather, and Smith 2016) Under Immigration and Naturalization code 8 USC section 1324, it is stated that “deals with those persons who knowingly conceal, harbor, or shield undocumented aliens and could apply to officials in sanctuary cities and states shall be punished.”(Yong 1918) Places like Huntington Park, California have been practicing sanctuary city policies, but it has never been declared as a sanctuary city. It has even appointed two people without legal status to be a part of the city commission. Another city, San Francisco, California, has been declared a sanctuary city since 1989 and still is a sanctuary city to this date has declared that they will cut ties with federal immigration officials and refuse to cooperate with them. So how is it “legal” for a whole city to knowingly house illegal immigrants and continue to get away with it? By having these sanctuary cities, these cities and states are using their refusal as a way to support the nullification of the federal law.

Many of the issues with sanctuary cities rose when Mr. Donald Trump became president. Through many years, the United States has had multiple controversial issues with illegal immigrants. Being that Trump’s main focus of his presidency is to deport millions of immigrants, the role of sanctuary cities is likely to get more complicated. Since Trump has vowed to build a wall along the U.S- Mexico border means that there has been an uproar among people who support sanctuary cities. (News, CBS 2017) According to Louis DeSipio, a professor at the University of California, “Trump will first have to decide what it means to be a sanctuary city. Is it just the name, a purely symbolic thing, or specific policies in San Francisco or some other cities that he thinks counter federal laws. What defines a sanctuary city in his eyes?” (Carcamo, Mather, and Smith 2016) After Trump was elected president, the leaders in the sanctuary cities vowed to continue their policies that they once had. According to Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie