Politicians and police chiefs in sanctuary cities say their policies make for safer communities by encouraging illegal aliens to report crimes without fear of deportation.<\/p>\n
Turns out that criminal aliens are getting free passes, too, making those communities much more dangerous.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly 10,000 criminal aliens that have been released [in sanctuary cities], rather than turned over to ICE, have recommitted other crimes,\u201d said Thomas Homan, acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Earlier this week, President Trump nominated Homan to be ICE\u2019s permanent director.)<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 10,000 crimes that could \u2013 and should — have been prevented, easily and lawfully.<\/p>\n
Revealing the startling figure in an interview with Fox News<\/a>, Homan singled out Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cChicago has the highest crime rate they\u2019ve had in years. Are they doing everything they can to prevent it? I say no. Cook County Jail doesn\u2019t accept our detainers, so criminal aliens go back onto the street to re-offend,\u201d Homan said.<\/p>\n Homan said the repeat-offender rate among criminal aliens runs as high as 75 percent.<\/p>\n \u201cI would think Chicago would do everything they can to work with me to remove these people from the communities and from the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n ICE has identified 118 jurisdictions<\/a> as actively thwarting federal immigration agents. FAIR<\/a> puts the total number of sanctuaries at more than 300.<\/p>\n One of the most heinous sanctuary crimes involved a Mexican illegal alien\u00a0 who allegedly killed a woman in San Francisco<\/a> in 2015. Though deported several times after committing previous offenses, the criminal alien was shielded by the city\u2019s sanctuary law. He is currently on trial for murder.<\/p>\n Meantime, the newly declared \u201csanctuary state\u201d of California reduced its maximum sentencing for misdemeanor crimes by one day to 364 days<\/a>. This circumvents federal laws, which provide for the deportation of immigrants with sentences of 365 days or more.<\/p>\n Rather than wait for Chicago and other crime-abetting sanctuaries to come around, ICE launched Operation Safe City<\/a>. In September, federal agents hit the streets to arrest hundreds of illegal aliens in 10 jurisdictions. Among those scooped up were immigrants with criminal convictions, pending criminal charges, known gang members, immigration fugitives and illegal re-entrants.<\/p>\n Homan says the \u201csurge\u201d will continue as long as cities remain noncompliant. ICE did not respond to FAIR\u2019s request for data detailing Homan\u2019s figure of 10,000 recidivist aliens.<\/p>\n Sanctuary jurisdictions and civil liberties groups have been quiet because they don\u2019t have a legal leg to stand on. Federal law — 8-USC-1324<\/a> \u2013 states that harboring, concealing or shielding illegal aliens from law enforcement is a crime.<\/p>\n While the U.S. Justice Department strives to bring sanctuary cities in line with the law, politicized local police departments look the other way. Homan says they have another think coming.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they think they\u2019re going to skirt the law by releasing [criminal aliens]into the community, I\u2019m going to send additional officers. We will find these people, take them into custody and remove them from the country,\u201d he said.