State Rep. Cam Cavitt on Thursday voiced his support for House Resolution 19 which would ban communities with sanctuary policies and those that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials from receiving additional state funding. The resolution, introduced by Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township), takes effect immediately and clearly outlines that no bill including funding for sanctuary communities will be brought to a vote in the House.

“For far too long we’ve seen local officials seem to care more about drug dealers from Mexico or gang members from Venezuela than they do for their own friends and neighbors who follow the law and pay their taxes,” said Cavitt, R-Cheboygan. “Local officials can obviously decide to do whatever they want, but they should know that for every second they refuse to cooperate with federal officials our state government will simultaneously refuse to cooperate with them. These communities are going to have to decide if they truly want to go it alone and whether protecting violent criminals from deportation is really more important than state funding.”

The new House resolution follows several federal initiatives, spearheaded by President Donald Trump and Border Czar Tom Homan, which prioritize the deportation of violent criminals.

President Trump also recently signed the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed by a Venezuelan alien, which mandates the federal detention of illegal immigrants who are accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury.’

Last year, Cavitt introduced legislation creating the Sanctuary Policy Prohibition Act and County Law Enforcement Protection Act, respectively. The plan would have prohibited municipalities from enforcing policies preventing local law enforcement from communicating or cooperating with federal immigration officials.

“Today, we fulfilled yet another campaign promise by using the tools at our disposal to keep our communities safe,” Cavitt said. “We’re putting radical officials across Michigan on notice; they can stop their backwards efforts to roadblock federal officials and protect violent criminals or else.”

The resolution does not prohibit the municipalities from receiving constitutionally required revenue sharing.

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