Latest news with #FederalImmigrationComplianceAct
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans, including Sen. Lee, push to rein in D.C. sanctuary policies as anti-ICE protests heat up
WASHINGTON — A local law preventing D.C. police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on deportations could be overturned as congressional Republicans seek to rein in sanctuary city policies nationwide. The House passed the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act on Thursday, seeking to end sanctuary policies that block D.C. police from assisting ICE with arrests and bans. The bill would also overturn local laws prohibiting city officials from releasing detained individuals to ICE or allowing ICE to interview a suspect in D.C. custody without a judicial order. 'My bill requires the District of Columbia to comply with federal immigration law. What's wrong with that?' Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who led the bill, said in a floor speech on Wednesday. 'We shouldn't have to bring this to the floor. We shouldn't have to explain these things. But we are going to ... require that our nation's capital comply with our nation's federal law.' The bill was introduced in early March, but its passage comes as immigration law enforcement and sanctuary city policies have become a political flashpoint in recent days. Protests and riots broke out in Los Angeles last weekend after ICE agents carried out raids in several locations across the city, prompting outrage from city residents. Although protests began peacefully, several turned violent after local law enforcement was called in to help quell the crowds. The protests have since spread across the country, and Republicans have renewed their calls to crack down on sanctuary city policies by urging stricter enforcement of immigration policies. 'It's sad that Gov. Newsom and Mayor Bass decided it was more important to refuse cooperation with ICE and posture against President Trump than make LA safe,' Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told the Deseret News in a statement. 'I hope other blue states and cities avoid this mess by complying with federal immigration law and not tolerating any rioting or violence.' Lee has been at the forefront of reining in the D.C. government, hoping to reassert congressional authority over the nation's capital. Lee has consistently introduced legislation that would end the city's autonomy and has also promoted the BOWSER Act — ironically named after the city's mayor — to reclaim authority over the city's public safety. 'I'm glad that the House of Representatives is considering the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, so that our nation's capital can set a better example,' Lee said. 'The D.C. Council has proven itself incapable of keeping the city safe, and my BOWSER Act handing the reins back to Congress is our best bet to restore dignity and order to Washington.' Republicans have pushed for years to claw back D.C.'s autonomy by overturning the Home Rule Act. Despite not being a state, Washington is permitted to operate as an independent city government under the D.C. Home Rule Act. However, local laws are still subject to congressional approval before they can take effect, occasionally setting up showdowns between Congress and local lawmakers. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., has been a leading voice on that issue in the House, successfully passing a bill in 2022 that would repeal the amended criminal code for the district that he argued was too soft on crime. That bill passed both chambers of Congress despite Democratic control of the Senate and was eventually signed by former President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump has expressed support for reining in D.C.'s local control, paving the way for Republicans to use their GOP trifecta in Washington to do so. 'I remain committed to reforming the unconstitutional and failed experiment of D.C. Home Rule,' Clyde told the Deseret News in a statement. 'Our nation's capital city is still in dire need of strong leadership and commonsense policies. Congress must continue using its constitutional authority over Washington's affairs to ensure America's capital city is a safe and prosperous place for years to come.' The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will require at least seven Democrats to buck party lines to support the measure. However, Democrats have supported bills to rein in the D.C. government before — and 11 Democrats in the House voted in favor of the bill on Thursday.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
House passes Republican-led bills to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting and policing
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House is poised to pass a trio of bills this week to repeal Washington, D.C., laws on immigration, voting and policing, even as it has yet to restore a painful $1 billion cut to the city's budget. The House passed two of the bills Tuesday. One would bar noncitizens from voting in local elections in the nation's capital, overturning a Washington law that was passed in 2022. It passed 266-148, with 56 Democrats joining Republicans in support. The other bill would restore collective bargaining rights and a statute of limitations for Washington police officers involved in disciplinary cases. It passed 235-178, with 30 Democrats voting for it and four Republicans voting against it. Then, on Thursday, the House is expected to pass a third bill, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, which would require the Washington government to comply with requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security to share information and detain undocumented immigrants. Under current Washington law, local authorities do not work with federal immigration officials unless they have judicial warrants. Altogether, the bills represent House Republicans' attempt to assert authority over deep-blue Washington at a time when the GOP has unified control of the federal government. 'Home rule' — in which the Washington mayor and city council make their own laws but Congress has the ability to review them — has long been a point of contention. Democrats have pushed in recent years to grant full statehood to Washington, while Republicans have slammed decisions made by local leaders and sought to reverse them. 'D.C.'s City Council made radical decisions in our nation's capital under the Biden-Harris administration, passing local laws that are woefully inconsistent with national standards or constitutional principles,' Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee who authored the GOP voting bill, told NBC News in a statement. 'I'm proud that the House is taking action to overturn several of these reckless measures — including my legislation to prohibit noncitizens from voting in local D.C. elections,' he said. At the same time, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican leaders have been dragging their feet on a legislative fix for Washington's budget. A government funding bill that Congress passed in March to avert a shutdown included a provision requiring the city to revert to fiscal year 2024 funding levels, leaving it with a $1.1 billion shortfall. The move was quickly met with opposition from local leaders. The Senate voted by unanimous consent in March to undo it and restore Washington's authority to use local tax dollars as its leaders see fit. President Donald Trump endorsed the fix, calling on the House to 'immediately' pass the bill on social media on March 28. But months later, Johnson still hasn't held a vote on the bill, prompting criticism from Democrats and Mayor Muriel Bowser. 'It's absurd that the House hasn't taken it up. It's absolutely irresponsible, unfair and beneath the credibility of leadership,' said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who represents a congressional district just outside Washington. 'It's not our money, it's D.C.'s money ... and I don't know why the speaker hasn't put the Senate bill on the floor. It'll pass overwhelmingly.' 'This is a particular egregious example of substituting their judgment for those who are locally elected to govern the District of Columbia,' Hoyer said. Last month, Johnson told reporters that he was in communication with Bowser and that the House would take up the funding fix 'as quickly as possible.' He said passing Trump's massive domestic policy package had taken up 'all of our energy' and insisted the delay was not for a 'political purpose.' 'We're working on it right now. It's not like we've closed the door to that,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told NBC News on Tuesday. 'But obviously there are other problems we're trying to resolve along the way.' Bowser's office denounced the GOP bills to revoke Washington law and — while noting that Washington has mitigated the most 'catastrophic' impacts of the budget restrictions — urged Congress to pass the funding fix. 'Mayor Bowser continues to oppose all congressional interference in the lives and affairs of Washingtonians. DC will continue to fight to protect our home rule and self-determination,' a Bowser spokesperson said in an email. 'If Congress wants to be helpful, they should pass the District of Columbia Local Funds Act to fix their damage to DC's FY25 budget.' Johnson's office had no comment when it was asked Tuesday when — or whether — he still plans to hold a vote on the funding fix. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., who is No. 4 in Republican leadership, said, 'I honestly don't know; I haven't heard yes or no,' when she was asked whether the funding fix will come up for a vote. Other congressional Democrats said Republicans should stay out of Washington issues. 'It's bad enough, usually, when they're playing in D.C. local, home rule issues,' said Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., whose district abuts Washington. 'But then to do it at a time when they haven't returned the $1.1 billion is especially egregious.' Immigration has dominated the national political debate this week, with protests erupting in Los Angeles in response to the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts. Republicans said the fight over immigration is a winning issue for the party, and they have continued to lean into it with the legislation on the floor this week. 'If D.C. wants illegals to vote, we've made it clear at the federal level people here illegally should not vote in any elections,' Scalise said. 'We're still the most generous nation in the world in terms of our legal immigration system,' he continued, 'but we have to fix our broken immigration system. And you could just see what's going on in L.A. to prove the point.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
House passes Republican-led bills to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting and policing
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House is poised to pass a trio of bills this week to repeal Washington, D.C., laws on immigration, voting and policing, even as it has yet to restore a painful a $1 billion cut to the city's budget. The House passed two of the bills on Tuesday. One would bar noncitizens from voting in local elections in the nation's capital, overturning a D.C. law that was passed in 2022. The other would restore collective bargaining rights and a statute of limitations for D.C. police officers involved in disciplinary cases. Then, on Thursday, the House is expected to pass a third bill, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, which would require the D.C. government to comply with requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security to share information and detain undocumented immigrants. Under current D.C. law, local authorities do not work with federal immigration officials unless they have a judicial warrant. All together, the bills represent House Republicans' attempt to assert authority over deep-blue D.C. at a time when the GOP has unified control of the federal government. ' Home rule ' — where the D.C. mayor and city council make their own laws but Congress has the ability to review them — has long been a point of contention. Democrats have pushed in recent years to grant full statehood to D.C., while Republicans have slammed decisions made by local leaders and sought to reverse them. 'D.C.'s City Council made radical decisions in our nation's capital under the Biden-Harris administration, passing local laws that are woefully inconsistent with national standards or constitutional principles,' Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee who authored the GOP voting bill, said in a statement to NBC News. 'I'm proud that the House is taking action to overturn several of these reckless measures — including my legislation to prohibit noncitizens from voting in local D.C. elections,' he said. At the same time, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican leaders have been dragging their feet on a legislative fix for D.C.'s budget. A government funding bill that Congress passed in March to avert a shutdown included a provision requiring the city to revert back to fiscal year 2024 funding levels, leaving it with a $1.1 billion shortfall. The move was quickly met with opposition from local D.C. leaders. The Senate voted by unanimous consent in March to undo it and restore D.C.'s authority to use local tax dollars as its leaders see fit. President Donald Trump endorsed the fix, calling on the House to 'immediately' pass that bill in a social media post on March 28. But months later, Johnson still hasn't held a vote on the bill, prompting criticism from Democrats and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. 'It's absurd that the House hasn't taken it up. It's absolutely irresponsible, unfair and beneath the credibility of leadership,' said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who represents a congressional district just D.C. 'It's not our money, it's D.C.'s money ... and I don't know why the speaker hasn't put the Senate bill on the floor. It'll pass overwhelmingly.' 'This is a particular egregious example of substituting their judgment for those who are locally elected to govern the District of Columbia,' Hoyer said. Last month, Johnson told reporters he was in communication with Bowser and that the House would take up the funding fix 'as quickly as possible.' The speaker said that passing Trump's massive domestic policy package had taken up 'all of our energy' and insisted the delay was not for a 'political purpose.' 'We're working on it right now. It's not like we've closed the door to that,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told NBC News on Tuesday. 'But obviously there are other problems we're trying to resolve along the way.' Bowser's office denounced the GOP bills to revoke DC law and — while noting that D.C. has mitigated the most 'catastrophic' impacts of the budget restrictions — urged Congress to pass the funding fix. 'Mayor Bowser continues to oppose all congressional interference in the lives and affairs of Washingtonians. DC will continue to fight to protect our home rule and self-determination,' a Bowser spokesperson said in an email. 'If Congress wants to be helpful, they should pass the District of Columbia Local Funds Act to fix their damage to DC's FY25 budget.' Johnson's office had no comment when asked Tuesday when — or whether — he still plans to hold a vote on the funding fix. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., the No. 4 in Republican leadership, said, 'I honestly don't know. I haven't heard yes or no,' when asked if the funding fix will come up for a vote. Other congressional Democrats said Republicans should stay out of D.C. issues. 'It's bad enough, usually, when they're playing in D.C. local, home rule issues,' said Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., whose district abuts Washington. 'But then to do it at a time when they haven't returned the $1.1 billion is especially egregious.' Immigration has dominated the national political debate this week, with protests erupting in Los Angeles in response to the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts. Republicans said the fight over immigration is a winning issue for the party, and they've continued to lean into it with the legislation on the floor this week. 'If D.C. wants illegals to vote, we've made it clear at the federal level people here illegally should not vote in any elections,' Scalise said. 'We're still the most generous nation in the world in terms of our legal immigration system,' he continued, 'but we have to fix our broken immigration system. And you could just see what's going on in L.A. to prove the point.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican lawmakers seek to strip District of Columbia of its sanctuary city policies
FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are launching an effort that would require the nation's capital to abandon its sanctuary city policies. Sanctuary cities are local jurisdictions that restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including refusing to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests. As a result, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act would eliminate sanctuary city laws in the District of Columbia and bar Washington, D.C., from implementing any policy that allows it to circumvent complying with Homeland Security and ICE on detainer requests for illegal immigrants. Trump Signs Executive Order Cracking Down On 'Sanctuary' Cities, Threatens Their Federal Funding "Unconscionable that our nation's capital would facilitate illegality and thwart federal law enforcement efforts," Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., who introduced the measure in the Senate Wednesday, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "President Trump's efforts to enforce immigration laws should not be undermined by local leadership anywhere in the United States, let alone Washington, D.C." Washington has a series of sanctuary city policies. For example, the D.C. City Council adopted a measure in 2020 that restricts D.C. officials from learning the immigration status of individuals in custody, and bars the jurisdiction from transferring individuals to federal immigration agencies. Read On The Fox News App Other jurisdictions with sanctuary city policies include Chicago, New York City, Boston and Los Angeles, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration in April from restricting federal funds for sanctuary cities, claiming it violates the Constitution's separation of powers principles and the spending clause, in addition to the Fifth and 10th Amendments. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., introduced the legislation in the House in March. "Sanctuary policies have devastating real-life consequences," Higgins said in a Wednesday statement. "As our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., should be the safest, most 'America First' city in the United States, and Congress has the constitutional authority to end the city's sanctuary status." Youngkin To Draft Sanctuary City Ban, Making State Funding Contingent On Ice Cooperation The legislation aligns with initiatives from the White House to crack down on sanctuary cities. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding the Justice Department and Homeland Security establish a list of all sanctuary cities failing to follow federal immigration laws. Per the executive order, cities will receive notification and have the opportunity to drop the sanctuary status. Failure to do so could cause them to risk losing federal funding, according to the executive order. The order also instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to "pursue all legal remedies" to encourage sanctuary cities into compliance with federal law, according to a Monday White House fact sheet shared with Fox News Digital. "It's quite simple: obey the law, respect the law, and don't obstruct federal immigration officials and law enforcement officials when they are simply trying to remove public safety threats from our nation's communities," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. "The American public don't want illegal alien criminals in their communities. They made that quite clear on Nov. 5, and this administration is determined to enforce our nation's immigration laws."Original article source: Republican lawmakers seek to strip District of Columbia of its sanctuary city policies
Fox News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Republican lawmakers seek to strip District of Columbia of its sanctuary city policies
FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are launching an effort that would require the nation's capital to abandon its sanctuary city policies. Sanctuary cities are local jurisdictions that restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including refusing to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests. As a result, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act would eliminate sanctuary city laws in the District of Columbia and bar Washington, D.C., from implementing any policy that allows it to circumvent complying with Homeland Security and ICE on detainer requests for illegal immigrants. "Unconscionable that our nation's capital would facilitate illegality and thwart federal law enforcement efforts," Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., who introduced the measure in the Senate Wednesday, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "President Trump's efforts to enforce immigration laws should not be undermined by local leadership anywhere in the United States, let alone Washington, D.C." Washington has a series of sanctuary city policies. For example, the D.C. City Council adopted a measure in 2020 that restricts D.C. officials from learning the immigration status of individuals in custody, and bars the jurisdiction from transferring individuals to federal immigration agencies. Other jurisdictions with sanctuary city policies include Chicago, New York City, Boston and Los Angeles, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration in April from restricting federal funds for sanctuary cities, claiming it violates the Constitution's separation of powers principles and the spending clause, in addition to the Fifth and 10th Amendments. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., introduced the legislation in the House in March. "Sanctuary policies have devastating real-life consequences," Higgins said in a Wednesday statement. "As our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., should be the safest, most 'America First' city in the United States, and Congress has the constitutional authority to end the city's sanctuary status." The legislation aligns with initiatives from the White House to crack down on sanctuary cities. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding the Justice Department and Homeland Security establish a list of all sanctuary cities failing to follow federal immigration laws. Per the executive order, cities will receive notification and have the opportunity to drop the sanctuary status. Failure to do so could cause them to risk losing federal funding, according to the executive order. The order also instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to "pursue all legal remedies" to encourage sanctuary cities into compliance with federal law, according to a Monday White House fact sheet shared with Fox News Digital. "It's quite simple: obey the law, respect the law, and don't obstruct federal immigration officials and law enforcement officials when they are simply trying to remove public safety threats from our nation's communities," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. "The American public don't want illegal alien criminals in their communities. They made that quite clear on Nov. 5, and this administration is determined to enforce our nation's immigration laws."
