❓WHAT HAPPENED: Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) stated that his stance on sanctuary cities has changed and that the laws no longer make America safe.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Sen. Fetterman and pro-sanctuary law Democrats like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The comments were made during broadcasts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I do think, at this point, we should be turning over all the criminals that are in custody in all these jurisdictions.” – Sen. Fetterman
🎯IMPACT: Fetterman’s comments suggest a major shift in his policy stance, and potentially an emerging key Democrat vote for Senate Republicans on border and immigration legislation amid calls for congressional action against sanctuary jurisdictions.
Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) says he now no longer believes sanctuary laws make Americans safer, and urged his fellow Democrats elected to office in sanctuary states and cities to hand over criminal illegal immigrants to federal law enforcement. According to Fetterman, the unchecked flow of illegal immigrants across the border under the former Biden government significantly impacted his opinion regarding the establishment of sanctuary jurisdictions.
“The dynamic has changed much differently, and the border has become more and more increasingly more difficult. So, for me, now, I think it’s entirely appropriate to make the adjustments,” Sen. Fetterman said during a television interview on Tuesday when pressed about his support for sanctuary laws in 2016. The Pennsylvania Democrat continued, “And I do think, at this point, we should be turning over all the criminals that are in custody in all these jurisdictions.”
Fetterman emphasized that “…if there are law enforcement that have these people in custody that are [engaging] in criminal behavior, then, yes, they should cooperate with that. And those individuals, if they’re convicted, should be deported.” Additionally, the Democrat Senator indicated he believes Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey—who has declared his city’s police will not cooperate with federal immigration agents—should back down.
Still, on Wednesday, Fetterman said he has lost confidence in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem. “Americans have died, and this doesn’t seem to be about the core things like securing the border,” Fetterman said, while lamenting that Noem’s predecessor under former President Biden, Secretary Alexander Mayorkas, was “incompetent.”
“Our party, my party, we failed at the border during the Biden administration. It was a disaster,” Fetterman added.
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