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WASHINGTON, March 29, 2017 – Yesterday, Congressman Andy Harris (R-Md.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Rep. Harris discussed Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announcement that U.S. jurisdictions with policies protecting illegal immigrant felons from immigration laws would not receive grants from the Department of Justice. In the Attorney General’s announcement, he urged Maryland not to pass legislation that would harbor illegal immigrants or halt prosecution and detaining procedures.
Rep. Harris commented on the attempts by Maryland jurisdictions’ to circumvent federal law, "Immigration law is always federal. It preempts anything any state could do.” Rep. Harris went on, “The local jurisdictions, some of whom like my home county of Baltimore County take hundreds of thousands of dollars in law enforcement grants from the Department of Justice… turn around and just say, ‘well, but we’re not going to cooperate with federal law enforcement officials when it comes to this aspect of the law.’ That shouldn’t be allowed. I think the Attorney General is going to try to put an end to that kind of behavior.”
Given what’s happened recently in Maryland with Illegal immigrants, Rep. Harris went on to discuss the impact of state law enforcement officials following immigration law, “We are welcoming legal immigrants. We welcome with open arms. Illegal immigrants, the word is going to get out if you come to the United States you’re going to get caught. There’s no catch-and-release… You’re going to get detained and you’re going to get sent back to your country of origin.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, the host of Washington Watch, added, "You know, it’s amazing what happens when you actually say you’re going to enforce the law… People actually respond… And when, as we saw under the last administration, when you said you weren’t going to enforce the law, people responded." concluded Perkins.
To listen to the full interview, click this link: https://soundcloud.com/family-research-council/20170328-andy-harris
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