Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita has introduced a bill that could put elected officials in prison for failing to enforce federal immigration law.
"If they're going to act like criminals themselves, if they're going to put the interests of these illegal immigrant criminals above the safety of their own citizens, then we ought to lock them up," Rokita told Fox News on Tuesday.
Rokita's bill, called the SLAP Act — Stopping Lawless Actions of Politicians Act — states that any elected official who refuses to enforce immigration laws, such as those in sanctuary cities, could face up to five years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The bill was presented following the not-guilty verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial, a case which President Donald Trump repeatedly highlighted on the campaign trail and which became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Steinle was fatally shot by an illegal immigrant, who had previously been deported five times, while walking in San Francisco, a sanctuary city, in 2015.
Rokita is running in the Republican primary against five other candidates in an attempt to win a Senate seat currently held by Democrat Joe Donnelly, who is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in next year's election, the IndyStar reported.
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