New Bill Introduced That Would Allow Victims To SUE Sanctuary Cities!

Here's more from House.gov:

U.S. Representative Ted Budd (R-NC) released the following statement after introducing H.R. 3964, the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act with Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL). The bill would allow the victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants to sue sanctuary cities if that’s where the crime occurred. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the Senate Companion, S. 2059, earlier this month. 

“I’ve been following sanctuary cities for some time now and the effects that they have on local communities. I’ve found that sanctuary cities’ failure to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) is reckless and has had a real cost on society, both economically and in terms of human lives. It strikes me as common sense to introduce and pursue legislation that allows families and victims recourse against municipalities and policies that have caused them so much damage. Currently, they have none. I want to thank Rep. Bradly Bryne for introducing this bill with me in the House and Senator Thom Tillis for his leadership on this issue in the Senate,” said Budd.

Legal Reader has more details on the bill:

North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd introduced a bill last week that’d let crime victims sue sanctuary cities if the perpetrator was an undocumented immigrant.

It’s an obviously partisan piece of legislation and one with no hope of passing the Democrat-dominated House. Entitled the ‘Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act,’ the proposal would give anyone who’s been victimized by an undocumented immigrant within the last decade the chance to file a lawsuit.

“I’ve found that sanctuary cities’ failure to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reckless and has had a real cost on society, both economically and in terms of human lives,” Budd said in a press release last Thursday.

Budd’s bill sets an unusually high standard for prospective litigants—in order to seek recompense under its purview, crime victims would have to demonstrate that an undocumented perpetrator “benefitted from a sanctuary policy of the sanctuary jurisdiction.” Another stipulation necessitates that a victim “would not have been so injured or harmed but for the alien receiving the benefit of such sanctuary policy.”

According to Budd, it’s a common-sense initiative. And the recently-elected congressman’s proposal is one likely to hit home for many conservatives—under the Trump administration, immigration has always been a priority. Much of President Trump’s 2016 election campaign hinged around the border and those crossing it illegally, with the then-candidate claiming that sanctuary cities encourage crime and endanger Americans.

“It strikes me as common sense to introduce and pursue legislation that allows families and victims recourse against municipalities and policies that have caused them so much damage,” Budd said. “Currently, they have none.”