Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, in June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, released a list of criminal illegal aliens who were allowed back into their sanctuary communities by local officials. One such criminal is Rosalio Ramos-Romas, a Honduran citizen who was deported four times before authorities arrested him in Washington State in October of 2017.

Once notified of his arrest, ICE issued a written detainer request asking local authorities to imprison him for an additional 48 hours. Instead, local authorities ignored the detainer request and allowed Rosalio back into the community, where he eventually murdered his cousin and hid the body in a dumpster.

These are not isolated incidents of violence, but they occur all too frequently in sanctuary cities across America. The truth is that sanctuary city policies threaten the safety of our neighbors.

I am fed up that these tragedies have gone unchecked for far too long in our country. That is why I introduced H.R. 3964, the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act, with Congressman Bradley Byrne, which would allow anyone harmed by an illegal immigrant in a sanctuary city to sue the sanctuary city or State.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the House to give victims of sanctuary city policies a legal pathway to justice. This cannot happen again.

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