State Rep. Cam Cavitt on Wednesday called for a committee hearing on his plan to ban sanctuary city policies in Michigan. Just last week, an illegal immigrant murdered a 25-year-old woman in Grand Rapids.

“How many more tragedies must our communities suffer before so-called sanctuary cities realize the error of the ways and the dangerous lawlessness their misguided decisions create?” asked Cavitt, R-Cheboygan. “People are not safer when municipalities choose to violate federal law. When cities embrace these policies, they are basically putting up giant billboards telling human traffickers exactly where to bring the dangerous criminals they smuggle across the border. We cannot continue to allow Michigan communities to be active partners in the exploitation of vulnerable people; it doesn’t help immigrants and puts our residents at increased and unnecessary risk.”

In a letter to Committee Chair Tullio Liberati, Cavitt and House Republican Leader Matt Hall urged the House Government Operations Committee to hold a hearing on their plan, House Bills 4879 and 4880, to create the Sanctuary Policy Prohibition Act and County Law Enforcement Protection Act, respectively. The plan would prohibit municipalities from enforcing policies preventing local law enforcement from communicating or cooperating with federal immigration officials. More than 20 Michigan communities with more than 5.5 million total residents have designated themselves as “sanctuary” or “welcoming” communities.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that over half of Michigan residents are facing heightened threats because their radical local units of government refuse to comply with federal law,” Cavitt said. “If there are undocumented immigrants in our communities, especially those violating local laws, then we should absolutely be working hand in hand with the federal government to make sure we can deport the dangerous criminals roaming our streets.”

The illegal immigrant who confessed this week to the murder of Ruby Garcia in Grand Rapids had reentered the United States illegally after the Trump Administration deported him in 2020. Prior to his deportation, he had been arrested multiple times in Kent County. He was convicted of illegal entry into a residence, and he had an outstanding bench warrant in Grand Rapids for a 2020 case of suspected drunk driving and driving without a valid license.

A recent Gallup poll found that 28 percent of Americans, a plurality, view immigration as the most important problem facing the country, and 55 percent agree that large numbers of immigrants entering the country illegally is a critical threat to our nation’s vital interests.

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