Phoenix Drops Sanctuary City Status – The Results Are Stunning

Phoenix Drops Sanctuary City Status – The Results Are Stunning

Most Americans oppose sanctuary cities and for good reason. Sanctuary cities ban officials from asking anyone about their immigration status, allowing illegal immigrants to break the law without fear of deportation. Now, though, some lawmakers have begun to see the light. Phoenix dropped their sanctuary city status years ago and the evidence is in: crime has fallen to stunning lows since then.

Sanctuary cities have long been known to correlate to higher crime rates. A six-year study from the University of California, for example, found that “violent crime is slightly higher in sanctuary cities.” Not that it matters to liberals, though; take California Senate President Kevin de Leon, who still advocates for sanctuary cities and claims it is more dangerous to deport criminals.

“Police chiefs across the nation believe that enlisting local police to enforce immigration law is a bad idea,” de Leon argued. “Having [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] pluck criminals out of jail and send them across the border or wherever they came only to come right back endangers our communities.”

Unfortunately for de Leon and other liberals, Phoenix has proven them wrong. In 2008, Phoenix reversed their sanctuary city policy. Police now could ask people about their immigration status and make reports to ICE. And the results were stunning.

“We saw a decrease in crime,” said Levi Bolton, executive director to the Arizona Police Association. “It had a deterrent effect on folks because the risk of discovery went up exponentially when we actually enforced the law.”

“When we eliminated our sanctuary policy back in 2008, we saw crime, violent and stolen vehicles fall by 25 percent,” he continued. “We saw a 20-year low crime rate. When we were allowed and had the discretion to contact our federal immigration partners, crime fell drastically.” Between 2008 and 2009, City-Data.com reported that the murder rate fell by 3%, robberies by 23%, theft by 19% and burglaries by 14%. Crime continued to drop in following years.

The data is clear. What will it take for more politicians to wake up?

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