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Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20150&cosponId=18828
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: August 12, 2015 03:25 PM
From: Senator Richard L. Alloway, II
To: All Senate members
Subject: Municipal Sanctuary and Federal Enforcement (SAFE) Act
 
Recently, so-called “Sanctuary Cities” have come into national spotlight after the tragic murder of Kathryn Steinle. Though there is no firm definition of a “Sanctuary City”, the common theme amongst them is that mayors and other elected officials have resolved to prevent their police from honoring an immigration detainer and notifying agents of the Department of Homeland Security of the pending release of an individual who has a detainer issued. This misguided attempt at preserving “human rights” ultimately threatens the safety of citizens legally residing in their communities.

Several municipalities in Pennsylvania have, unfortunately, taken steps to oppose federal law and will no longer honor an immigration detainer. To that end, I plan to introduce legislation that will address the issue of sanctuary cities in the Commonwealth. It is designed to prevent municipalities and counties from designating themselves as “sanctuary cities” in order to thwart federal efforts to combat illegal immigration.

The bill will contain these provisions:

* The following entities and individuals are required to enforce all laws, mandates and orders from the federal government pertaining to immigration.
*The governing body of any municipality, township or county may not adopt a rule, order, ordinance or policy under which it prohibits the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth or federal laws pertaining to immigrants or immigrations, including the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C., Section 1101 and et. Seq.).
*No governing body of a municipality, township or county, along with any of the named individuals, shall be required to take an action that could result in exposure to potential liability.
*Any law enforcement agency or municipality that refuses to enforce a constitutional order shall not be eligible for any state grants for law enforcement, including the purchase of equipment or vehicles for law enforcement, or eligible to participate in the sale of state surplus property.
*The legislation will provide a good-faith exception for a municipality or individuals that made an attempt to coordinate with the federal agency, but was unable to coordinate efforts with said agency to transfer the custody of the suspect in question.
*The bill will add a definition to Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) – “municipality of refuge.” This is a municipality that permits the release of an individual in the custody of the local law enforcement agency even though there is a detainer request by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit.
* Further, this bill will grant legal standing to any person injured to sue a municipality that released an individual with a detainer and did not make a good-faith effort to contact the proper immigration authorities and arrange for a transfer of custody.



Introduced as SB997