State Rep. Martina White (R-170th dist.) responded to a letter from City Council President Darrell Clarke, rejecting his request that she reverse her position opposing sanctuary cities.
In the letter, she wrote that, when a municipality refuses to cooperate with federal authorities on even the worst criminals, citizens are put in danger.
“There is no debate that illegal aliens have harmed Americans,” she wrote.
White pointed to a 2011 Government Accountability Office study on some 250,000 illegal aliens in federal, state and local prisons. Those prisoners had been arrested nearly 1.7 million times and committed 3 million offenses, averaging about seven arrests and 12 offenses each.
“It troubles me to think of all the other families that were devastated because an illegal alien harmed their family but the perpetrator remained in this country due to a sanctuary city policy. I’m confident that number has grown as more and more municipalities have offered sanctuary for illegal immigrants,” she wrote. “This lack of communication and cooperation has resulted in real crimes against our citizens.”
White asked Clarke and other Council members to encourage Kenney to abandon his sanctuary city policy and to uphold federal law so Philadelphia does not lose state or federal funding.
“The solution is simple, allow Philadelphia employees to cooperate and communicate with federal officials in regard to illegal immigrants who are under arrest for a criminal offense,” she wrote. ••
