FIRST ON FOX: Republican members of Congress, including multiple lawmakers from New York, are introducing legislation that would block federal migrant-related funding from going to jurisdictions with “sanctuary” policies.
New York GOP Rep. Nick LaLota’s No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act would bar federal funding from going to any sanctuary jurisdiction for the purposes of addressing the ongoing migrant crisis.
Specifically, it would block funding for “the provision of food, shelter, healthcare services, legal services, and transportation” of those in the country illegally. Notably, it would include blocking funding to New York City, which has been hit with an influx of over 110,000 migrants since last year, and with which Democrat officials have called for more help from the government and warned it could cost $12 billion by 2025.
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Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla.; Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y.; Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y.; Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y.; Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.; Brandon Williams, R-N.Y.; and Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., are co-sponsoring the bill.
“However illogical, New York Democrats are free to keep their failed sanctuary city policies which are helping to cause New York City’s migrant crisis and the $12 billion Mayor Adams says it will cost,” LaLota said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“But these officials, who can repeal those costly policies any day, cannot expect other states’ taxpayers to fund their indiscretion while their policies remain in place.”
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Sanctuary jurisdictions limit or block local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, including detainers issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that request an illegal immigrant be transferred into ICE custody from police custody. Such areas typically characterize themselves as welcoming towards immigrants — regardless of whether they are in the country legally.
Republicans have accused such jurisdictions of encouraging illegal immigration with those policies, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been bussing migrants to such cities, including Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago, for the last year.
Some of those cities have been facing their own migrant crises as migrants flood in, most prominently New York City. There, Mayor Eric Adams has warned that the crisis could “destroy” the Big Apple. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently said that migrants should “go somewhere else.”
Other sanctuary cities have been suffering from their own financial issues and are pushing for additional federal funding, expedited work permits and a federal emergency declaration, among other requests.
Meanwhile, numbers at the southern border itself continue to skyrocket. Customs and Border Protection sources told Fox News on Monday that there were approximately 11,000 migrant encounters at the southern border, exceeding the record highs seen in the days before the Title 42 public health order ended in May and making it the single highest day in recent memory.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Friday that there were more than 230,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in August, marking the highest on record. Sources have told Fox that numbers for Fiscal Year 2023 have already exceeded those of the record-breaking FY 2022.
Fox News’ Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.