Jasmine Rivera: The real goal of No Bail Out for Sanctuary Cities Act
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The next few years are going to challenge our representatives in Washington to balance partisan politics against human rights and the interests of the people they serve.
Pennsylvania’s members of Congress and senators have already been put to the test, and elected leaders like Sen. John Fetterman and Reps. Brendan Boyle, Brian Fitzpatrick, Chris Deluzio, Ryan MacKenzie and Chrissy Houlahan, to name a few, will face an early test in the coming weeks. Already, only two months into the year, these elected officials have voted in favor of anti-immigrant legislation that will have consequences for everyone in Pennsylvania.
Congress will soon vote on legislation (HR 32, the No Bail Out for Sanctuary Cities Act) to deny federal funding to so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” nationwide that have policies that lawfully protect the rights of immigrants. The bill’s vague definition of sanctuary would open the door for political operatives to abuse the power of the federal government to arbitrarily deny all federal funding to any Pennsylvania community that lawfully protects the rights of immigrants.
HR 32 puts millions of lives and livelihoods at risk to score political points. Its goal is to not only terrorize immigrant communities but to justify budget cuts to vital programs and services we all deserve and pay for. Programs and services this current administration is planning to end regardless if local governments resume cooperation with ICE.
The bill is out of step with Pennsylvania priorities. Research confirms that immigrants are key to the state’s continued economic growth, as Pennsylvania’s U.S.-born population declines. Pennsylvania has been experiencing a worker shortage for years, for every 100 jobs there’s only 60 people looking for work. These worker shortages across industries and across the state impact everyone negatively, regardless of immigration status. As workers, taxpayers, consumers and entrepreneurs, immigrants make our state stronger and grow our communities. The data is clear, for this state to have any kind of future we need to welcome new people into our communities, not terrorize and separate families.
What’s at stake? Pennsylvania received nearly $42 billion in federal funding in 2023. That funding provided health care, highways, transportation, schools, child care and housing and helped to meet other basic needs facing every Pennsylvania family. Federal funding also supports other local and state priorities from safe drinking water to law enforcement — even disaster response. Because the bill language is so extremely broadly in scope, some or all of those funds could vanish overnight. As a result, we will allbe harmed should this bill pass. Those harmed by this bill are almost entirely U.S. citizens and lawfully present immigrants.
Congressional Republicans rigged the House rules to exempt the bill from committee debate, amendments and other protections afforded by the legislative process. As a result, the vote could come in the middle of the night with little warning and even less debate. Given the bill’s content, that may be by design.
Make no mistake, this administration is actively pursuing its mass deportation agenda, and it is also using the immigrant community as the scapegoat to push a decades-old agenda to obliterate social safety nets and human services to all communities, like the current attack on Medicaid, while simultaneously giving tax breaks and subsidies to billionaires and corporations. Passing this bill would make every social problem our community faces worse, and leaders on both sides of the aisle must reject it.
This is the moment for our federal elected officials to put the public interest ahead of political self-interest, to demonstrate leadership rooted with values and justice. And this is the moment for all of our elected leaders, from the local to the federal, to be bold and loud in their support of the immigrant community. These are our friends, neighbors, and coworkers. These are our family members. This administration wants us to be scared, wants us to be divided; that is their strategy. But they can’t come for all of us if we stand together.
Jasmine Rivera is the executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition.