House Passes Two Immigration Bills Ahead of July 4 Recess

Susan Jones
June 30. 2017
CNSNews

President Donald Trump is applauding the House of Representatives for passing “two crucial measures to save and protect American lives.”

Kate’s Law, named for the San Francisco woman shot and killed by a Mexican man who had illegally re-entered the U.S. multiple times, increases the criminal penalties for people who come back to the country after being deported.

“Every year, countless Americans are victimized, assaulted, and killed by illegal immigrants who have been deported multiple times,” Trump said in his statement. “It is time for these tragedies to end.”

The second bill, Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act, bars federal grants for at least one year to any state or local government that refuses to cooperate with federal immigration law by turning over illegal aliens to immigration officials.

“Sanctuary cities are releasing violent criminals, including members of the bloodthirsty MS-13 gang, back onto our streets every single day,” Trump said. “Innocent Americans are suffering unthinkable violence as a result of these cities’ reckless actions.”

Kate’s Law passed on a vote of 257-167, with 24 Democrats joining all but one Republican in voting for it. The only Republican to vote against the bill was Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a Trump critic.

Amash also voted against the sanctuary cities bill, which passed 228-195. The other six Republicans voting against this bill were Reps. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), Mario Diaz-Balart (Fla.), Dan Donovan (N.Y.), Peter King (N.Y.), Dave Reichert (Wash.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.).

Three Democrats broke with their party to support the sanctuary cities bill: Reps. Matt Cartwright (Pa.), Henry Cuellar (Texas) and Collin Peterson (Minn.).

“Now that the House has acted, I urged the Senate to take up these bills, pass them, and send them to my desk,” Trump said.

Five days after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order cracking down on sanctuary cities, but a federal judge struck that provision down, saying Congress controls the purse strings, and therefore Trump could not impose a ban on federal grants.

The legislation passed on Thursday does what Trump set out to do himself.