House Targets Sanctuary Cities after Steinle Death

The House has passed a bill aimed at cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities that harbor immigrants who are in the United States illegally.

The measure would punish cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities by blocking those localities from receiving some law enforcement funding. The White House is threatening to veto it.

The bill is dubbed "Kate's Law" in response to the recent murder of a young woman in San Francisco. Kate Steinle was killed by a man who had a long criminal record and had previously been deported five times to Mexico.

San Francisco authorities released the man, even though federal immigration authorities had asked the city to keep him in custody.

This week Kate Steinle's father delivered heart-wrenching testimony of the incident before Congress.

"Suddenly a shot rang out, Kate fell, and looked at me, and said, 'Help me Dad.' Those are the last words that I'll ever hear from my daughter," Jim Steinle told lawmakers.

"We feel if Kate's Law saves one daughter, one son, a mother, a father -- Kate's death won't be in vain," he said.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said Kate's Law is simply about enforcing existing immigration law.

"Many of the crimes committed by illegal immigrants could have been prevented if the Obama administration had enforced immigration laws. Instead, it has chosen to ignore them and innocent Americans continue to pay a steep price," he said.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., laid some of the blame squarely on the sanctuary cities.

"There are criminals motivated by malice and a conscious disregard for the lives of others, and there are cities more interested in providing a sanctuary for those criminals than they are in providing a sanctuary for their law-abiding citizens," Gowdy said.

"This is more than an academic discussion," he continued. "It is quite literally life and death."