The Federal government had the authority to impose a national speed limit on highways that qualify for Federal funding, but they couldn't force the states to actually go out and enforce those speed limits. This is where the states and cities have a legitimate point regarding illegal immigrants. They are not immigration enforcement agents, and cannot be deputized against their will by the Federal government.
We may not like the results, but this is the exact same argument that has been used successfully in the past by state and local police departments who had no interest in enforcing stupid Federal gun laws.
True. But they cannot stop BP/HSA/ICE from operating at their pleasure in the state. Or not. Trump could just stand by and let the sanctuary city be flooded with Illegals. Critical mass won’t take long.
I believe California issues drivers licenses to illegals. Homeland Security could invalidate the use of EVERY California drivers license for any federal purpose of identification. That would include entry to federal buildings, TSA screenings, banking and federally sponsored assistance programs. If all Californians are inconvenienced by the leftist legislators, mayhaps the legislators will wisen up.
You make an excellent point. Our country is very unique in that we do not have a national police force. Mexico has the federales for example. We have the border control and ICE...fairly small national law enforcement agencies.
State and local police are not hired to enforce immigration law...although in days gone by there was usually willing cooperation between states and feds. The bottom line is local governments have no legal obligation to turn illegal immigrants over to the feds.
But....to interact with any government agency, people need to have a legal status which can only be obtained through the federal government. This means having a social security number or a passport or a work visa etc. States and local governments often ignore the fact that when letting people into schools, colleges, welfare programs etc. California issues drivers license to people who aren’t citizens as well.
This is where the leverage lies for those of us people who simply want our laws followed. Any agency, public or private, that employs are assist an illegal immigrant (in the case of benefits) without a legal status can be subject to harsh penalties from the federal government because they are in fact helping a criminal break our immigration laws.