Bill Would Stop Giving Federal Handouts To ‘Sanctuary’ Cities

As the leftists running Los Angeles fail to get the leftists destroying Los Angeles under control, two Republican lawmakers aim to hold sanctuary governments accountable for impeding federal law enforcement officials from enforcing immigration law. 

Reps. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, and Sheri Biggs, R-S.C., on Tuesday introduced the Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act, which “blocks federal financial assistance for one year to any city or state that refuses to honor ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detainers.” The legislation also prohibits state and local governments restricting communications with the Department of Homeland Security. 

“If any city refuses to comply with the laws of our nation, blatantly works against the Department of Homeland Security, and wastes billions of taxpayer dollars shielding illegal aliens at the risk of American citizens, then they should be cut off from receiving even a penny of federal funding,” Gill said in a joint press release. 

A similar Republican-led bill introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina died in the last session of Congress. 

Flouting the Law

Sanctuary cities, such as Los Angeles, bar local police from helping ICE and other federal law enforcement officials with immigration-related operations. In November, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to officially designate the nation’s second-largest city a sanctuary city, “prohibiting city resources or personnel from being used to help federal enforcement of immigration laws,” NBC4 Los Angeles reported. The vote came two weeks after President Donald Trump was elected. 

“We have been a pro-immigrant city for a number of years, we know that there is a target on our back from this president-elect, and what we are doing here is we are hardening our defenses,” Councilman Bob Blumenfield said at the time, as reported by NBC4. “We are codifying our good policies on protecting immigrants.”

A half decade ago there were a reported 900,000 illegal immigrants living in L.A., according to a 2020 University of Southern California Dornsife study. That number has undoubtedly increased over the four years of open borders under a Biden administration that welcomed millions of illegal aliens into the country. 

The High Cost of ‘Sanctuary’

California is a sanctuary state. Federal funding makes up more than one-third of California’s budget, according to the California Budget & Policy Center. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed state budget for 2025-2026 relies on north of $170 billion in federal funds, the think tank reports. 

The Golden State is projected to spend more than $8.4 billion on taxpayer-funded Medicaid health benefits for illegal immigrants, according to the California Department of Finance. That’s more than $5 billion higher than originally estimated, the U.S. House Budget Committee noted earlier this year. Deep blue California last year launched the first state program to provide taxpayer-funded health care — via Medicaid — “to all illegal aliens in the state,” as the Budget Committee also reported.

Nationally, the Congressional Budget Office reports the Biden administration spent more than $16.2 billion on emergency health care for illegal immigrants. 

“Sanctuary” has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. According to a report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, “At the start of 2023, the net cost of illegal immigration for the United States — at the federal, state, and local levels — was at least $150.7 billion.” 

“Illegal immigration costs each American taxpayer $1,156 per year ($957 after factoring in taxes paid by illegal aliens),” FAIR’s report, “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers 2023,” estimated. 

‘Follow Federal Law’

The Trump administration is going after improper and illegal use of federal taxpayer dollars. 

Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) field office in Los Angeles issued a subpoena to California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants. The CAPI program issues benefits to illegal immigrants ineligible for Social Security assistance because of their immigration status. 

“The subpoena requests all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services — who administers the state program — to determine if ineligible illegal aliens received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration, between January 2021 to present,” the Department of Homeland Security announced in a press release. 

Sanctuary jurisdictions that shirk federal immigration law and enforcement, too, could pay the price under the bill introduced this week. Biggs said the Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act makes it simple: “If you want federal tax dollars, you need to follow federal law.” 

“Americans are watching sanctuary cities spiral out of control, while cartel-backed traffickers smuggle poison into our neighborhoods. This bill delivers real consequences to those who aid our enemies and defy our laws,” the congresswoman said. 

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.