Allowing citizens to go after cities and counties that protect illegal aliens, though, there does seem to be something missing
(WRAL) The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would allow people to sue cities or counties that have so-called “sanctuary” policies for people in the U.S. illegally.
The 65-52 party-line House vote comes two days after the Senate approved House Bill 370, which would require sheriffs to check the immigration status of people booked into county jails and hold people in jail for federal immigration agents. Sheriffs who don’t could be removed from office.
House Bill 135, which now heads to the Senate, would nullify any local policy or ordinance that prohibits law enforcement from gathering immigration information on “any individual,” directing law enforcement not to collect such information or blocking the information from being forwarded to federal immigration officials.
The proposal also would allow people to seek court orders to have such policies halted and to have the affected county or city pay their legal fees.
Of course, the “we’re really not pro-illegal immigration, we just want to protect illegal aliens” folks are rather Upset
“This bill not only harms our immigrant communities, it harms local counties and cities that wish to protect their most vulnerable residents and prevents them from becoming welcoming cities to those in need,” Moises Serrano, political director of advocacy group El Pueblo, said in a statement.
Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, said the bill appears to allow lawsuits against a sheriff’s policies, such as not honoring immigration detainers and keep people who have posted bond in jail. The Senate stripped a provision allowing such civil actions from House Bill 370 before approving the measure.
Several sheriffs, including those in Wake, Durham and Orange counties, have said they can better serve local Latinx communities by refusing to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But, see, their job is not to better serve people who are unlawfully present in the United States, their job is to protect the citizens and those here lawfully. Let’s put it this way: what if they decided it better served a community where lots of petty crime occurred, such as pooping all over the streets and sidewalks, by turning a blind eye to the pooping? Would someone create a poop map? Who does this actually serve?
Harrison also noted that House Bill 135 would allow anybody, even people living out of state or corporations, to sue over local policies because the bill spells out that they “need not allege or prove special damage different from that suffered by the public at large.” That would invite many suits, she said, forcing counties and cities to spend money unnecessarily to defend themselves.
“I don’t believe we actually want any person to be able to bring an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit against any of our cities or counties,” agreed Rep. John Autry, D-Mecklenburg.
The idea, I suspect, is to make it too expensive for sanctuary jurisdictions to keep it up. They might have been better served if they had crafted the bill to allow anyone harmed by the actions of an illegal alien to directly sue the jurisdictions involved with the illegal in question, as well as the people specifically involved, such as the Sheriff, county and local council members, and mayors.
The way this is crafted, though, means anyone can sue any NC sanctuary jurisdiction at any time, as long as they are not frivilous, which is laid out in the bill. Both can be expected to be vetoed by the Democratic governor, Rory Cooper. Will the GA have the votes to override?
