Following the death of Kathryn Steinle, who was gunned down in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant, state Rep. John Taylor (R-177th dist.) announced he will co-sponsor legislation to require state and local law enforcement agencies to comply with federal law and cooperate with federal immigration officials.
The legislation would require state and local law enforcement agencies to comply with requests to notify federal immigration officials before the release of certain individuals, as well as maintain custody of certain individuals already in their custody for up to 48 hours beyond when such individuals would otherwise be released.
“The death of Kathryn Steinle is a tragic example of the danger posed by sanctuary cities that refuse to follow federal law and cooperate with federal immigration officials,” Taylor said. “I applaud the members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted to withhold federal grants to cities that have policies designed to shelter illegal immigrants from deportation.”
Steinle’s killer, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was deported five times, but admitted returning to San Francisco for security.
ldquo;He knew he would be protected from deportation there,” Taylor said. “We must do everything we can to dissuade that kind of dangerous policy anywhere in the commonwealth.”
In 2014, Mayor Michael Nutter signed an executive order preventing Philadelphia law enforcement from complying with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers when the Philadelphia law enforcement agency believes that the individual does not pose a serious risk to public safety.
“But if the federal government rules that an individual should not be returned to the community, Philadelphia law enforcement should not have the ability to overrule the determination,” Taylor said. “The legislation I am supporting would require all state and local law enforcements agencies in the commonwealth to keep the individuals in custody and notify federal officials.” ••
