Immigration laws and sanctuary cities

  Module 3 Discussion. In this module, you will be studying about immigration laws and sanctuary cities. One aspect of the controversy surrounding both of these issues is the federal government's handling of illegal immigration. Read the article Congressman and Journalists Report on Historic Surge of ‘Extra-Continental’ Migrants Now Pouring Through Panama to U.S. Border. Then, read the following excerpt from The Heritage Foundation commentary "Crimes by Illegal Immigrants Widespread Across U.S.—Sanctuaries Shouldn’t Shield Them." "The crimes committed by these aliens ranged from drug trafficking to “violent offenses” including murder, sexual assault, robbery, and kidnapping. In fact, 24 percent of all federal prosecutions for drug offenses were of aliens. And we are not talking about simple possession. As the report states, “drug offenses” are defined as the “manufacture, import, export, distribution, and dispensing” of dangerous drugs like methamphetamine. So, aliens are a major source of the debilitating drug problem that is a scourge on our society. While these numbers are distressing, what’s even more distressing is that they only represent the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The vast majority of crimes committed in this country are prosecuted at the local level, not the federal level. These federal numbers are only a fraction of the crimes committed by criminal aliens. The latest report from the state of Texas alone, for example, reports that between June 1, 2011, and Nov. 30, 2021, 356,000 criminal aliens were booked into Texas jails, of which over 243,000 were identified as being in the country illegally. Those illegal aliens were charged with more than 401,000 criminal offenses, including 742 murders, 47,737 assaults, 7,524 burglaries, over 11,000 sexual assaults and other sex crimes, and numerous kidnappings, thefts, robberies, and drug and weapons charges. Many criminal aliens were convicted of federal immigration offenses, including “smuggling of persons,” a relatively benign-sounding term for human trafficking, a cruel practice that often results in the exploitation, abuse, and sometimes rape or death of its victims." Prompt: Based on these readings, what do you believe is the appropriate response to the illegal immigration issues we, and America, are facing at the southern border of the country? Do you believe the federal government is currently effective in handling the flood of illegals and migrants? What do you believe is the appropriate local, state and federal law enforcement response? Explain your response.