House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) says county sheriffs in Maryland and New York have taken the extraordinary step of suing their own state governments over sanctuary policies they say put residents at risk.
Jordan made the disclosure during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily, describing testimony his committee has heard from “angel families” — relatives of people killed by illegal migrants who had already been charged with other crimes before being released under sanctuary rules.
“We do know of all the angel families in sanctuary jurisdictions where some illegal migrant who has been charged with another crime is let out and then goes and does something terrible,” Jordan said. “We’ve had angel family after angel family come and testify in front of our committee. We were — every week, we were in session, we were doing a hearing on this because I believe this is such a stupid policy.”
Jordan laid out the scale of the policy nationwide: 18 major cities, 11 states, and three counties near the nation’s capital — Fairfax County and Arlington County in Virginia, both bordering Washington, D.C. — currently operate as sanctuary jurisdictions.
“That’s almost a third of the nation,” Jordan said of the population living under these policies, calling the arrangement “just dumb.”
According to Jordan, a Maryland sheriff has sued the state directly, arguing the policy undermines the oath of office. Jordan paraphrased the sheriff’s position: “I was elected to protect the people in my county. This jeopardizes their safety.”
A sheriff in New York has filed a similar suit, Jordan said, and both have testified before his committee.
“I go, ‘Why suing your state? That’s a big step. You’re a county sheriff. You’re suing your own darn state.’ And they go, ‘Because it jeopardizes the safety of our people.'”
Jordan said the sheriffs, as the top elected law enforcement officials in their counties, are taking the drastic legal step because they see firsthand how the policies endanger the people they were elected to protect.
He said Republicans need to make the issue a focus heading into the midterm elections.
Breitbart News Daily airs weekdays on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
