Senators sparred at a hearing Tuesday over local jurisdictions that have policies against cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, as the Senate teed up another floor procedural vote to end a Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., used the hearing to highlight his proposal to make it a crime for local officials to release migrants if they received a request from federal immigration agents to keep them in custody. Penalties would increase if a migrant went on to commit a crime and cause harm.
The Justice Department has identified 200 cities and 12 states that have sanctuary city policies. Graham said local officials who don’t cooperate with federal immigration efforts should “feel the pain, not just the public.”
