The mayors and governors behind “sanctuary” policies are tearing apart the constitutional order. By encouraging illegal migrants to enter the U.S. and shielding them from deportation, sanctuary jurisdictions are directly thwarting federal law. These policies should be struck down by the courts, and with the Justice Department’s investigations into the efforts of Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey to obstruct federal immigration policy, this appears to be underway.
Defenders of sanctuary policies claim they are valid because they don’t directly impede federal enforcement. Sanctuaries merely ban state or local authorities from cooperating with the feds. But that minimizes their actual obligations under federal law. The United States Code lays out strict rules for how illegal migrants must be dealt with, and the rules apply to state and city governments along with individuals. Anyone who knowingly or recklessly “encourages or induces an alien . . . to reside in the United States” may be imprisoned or fined by federal authorities.
