On Wednesday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) told four Democratic mayors in front of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that she would report them to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for violating immigration laws by supporting sanctuary cities.
Luna talked about a federal law that makes it illegal to bring in and house migrants without legal status. “After this line of questioning, it’s very clear to me that these policies that you have all mentioned are active and well and true in your cities are in direct violation with Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324 and is a federal offense,” Luna said.
She went on, “You all talk about how the immigration system is broken, but here you are helping to make it worse,” “I don’t think you guys are bad people, but I do think you are ideologically misled. That’s why, unfortunately, based on your answers, I’m going to send you to the Department of Justice for an investigation on criminal charges, and these will be sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi as soon as I leave here.”
“If you keep doing what you’re doing, you won’t help anyone,” she told them, adding that she wasn’t trying to “bully” them but because she thought the policies were bad for the American people.
A criminal referral tells the DOJ in writing that a lawmaker or committee thinks there may have been illegal activity. It does not mean that the DOJ will start an investigation, though.
Luna said these things at a meeting in the House Oversight Committee where Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D), New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) were also present. People think of all four of these places as “sanctuary cities.”
When it comes to dealing with “sanctuary cities,” which, according to Britannica, are cities and towns that “decline to cooperate completely with federal detention requests related to undocumented immigrants,” the Trump administration has been very harsh.
Bondi has already sued Chicago, saying that the city has made it hard for the federal government to enforce immigration rules. Bondi also sent out a memo last month saying that sanctuary cities will not be able to get government money from the DOJ.
