The killing of Kathryn Steinle at the hands of a Mexican criminal who had been repeatedly deported has prompted Republicans to call for the repeal of sanctuary laws which limit cooperation between local and federal authorities in pursing immigration cases, according to
The Hill.
Critics of sanctuary laws insist that they encourage criminal activity by creating regional areas where illegal immigrants can find safe haven.
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton introduced legislation to withhold certain federal grants from sanctuary cities after a similar idea had been approved by the House Judiciary Committee in March, The Hill reported.
Top House Democrats insist, however, that the laws are not to blame for last week's killing.
"I don't believe having a sanctuary designation stops us from following the due course of the law to arrest or detain or to deport an individual who doesn't have a right to be in the country. So I don't believe we should be trying to ascribe blame based on a designation as a sanctuary city," said Rep. Xavier Becerra, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, according to The Hill.
Rep. Joseph Crowley, vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, took a similar line, saying that many local sanctuary laws help fight crime rather than encourage it or block the deportation of felons.
"These laws are in place to help law enforcement solve crimes. They're not there to cover up or to enable those crimes to happen," Crowley said. "If an individual is committing a crime, and they're not documented, and they're found to be in violation of a felony, they certainly have no right to stay in this country at all."
Meanwhile, the alleged killer, Francisco Sanchez, gave an exclusive
jailhouse interview to ABC News in which he admitted that he repeatedly returned to San Francisco because of its sanctuary policies.
"Did you keep coming back to San Francisco because you knew that they wouldn't actively look for you to deport you?" an ABC News affiliate asked him. Sanchez responded, "Yes."
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