California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is under fire from immigration advocates as she plans to take on sanctuary cities.
According to Politico, the move is creating anxiety for immigration advocates after the tough on crime California Democrat promised to author a measure that would force local municipalities to follow immigration requests by federal authorities.
Feinstein made the promise after San Francisco woman Kathryn Steinle was fatally shot at the hand of an illegal immigrant in San Francisco on July 1. The California Democrat served as a mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.
Most of the outcry against Feinstein's bill is coming from immigration activists from her home state, who are staging protests at her California office in San Francisco.
Politico is reporting that at least 50 pro-immigration groups have written a letter to both Feinstein and Sen. Barbara Boxer explaining that a measure stripping sanctuary cities of their power will cause fear among illegal immigrant communities.
Some advocates have compared Feinstein to Donald Trump, who became a target of immigrant activists after he called some illegal immigrants rapists when he announced his bid for the White House.
"Feinstein's bill is trying to get us to the point where we continue to generate fear at the local level," Cristina Jimenez, managing director of United We Dream, told Politico. "She is basically … joining the Donald Trump bandwagon."
According to Politico, Feinstein's measure is considered milder than what Republican lawmakers are offering. The California Democrat told Politico that the reason she wanted to write a bill targeting sanctuary cities is to have a counterbalance to what Republicans have authored — which threaten to keep federal funding from cities who won't comply with federal authorities.
Feinstein's measure would make it so that state and local officials would have to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement before releasing an illegal immigrant who has a felony conviction.
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