A push to require judicial warrants for immigration enforcement could "grind it to a halt," Sen. Lindsey Graham said, while backing legislation that would penalize state and local officials who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration detainers.
"What my bill says is, if you are a governor or you are a state official and you have in your custody someone who has broken federal immigration law and you do not turn that person over under existing law of the United States, you could go to jail," the South Carolina Republican said in a televised interview on Sunday.
Graham also criticized sanctuary jurisdictions and said governors and mayors who decline to hand over immigrants sought by federal authorities are "openly defying the law."
He compared his proposal to the case of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who served jail time after refusing to issue marriage licenses following a Supreme Court ruling that recognized same-sex marriage.
"You cannot change the law because you disagree with it," Graham said. "To these mayors and governors, when you defy a federal law that is clearly on the books, you cannot set it aside because of your political beliefs, though you disagree with it."
Graham claimed illegal immigration surged during former President Joe Biden's term and said sanctuary policies create incentives for migrants to settle in jurisdictions where cooperation with federal immigration enforcement is limited.
The senator also discussed the situation in Iran, calling unrest there a defining test for President Donald Trump and urging the U.S. to take steps he said would hasten the collapse of Iran's ruling regime.
"President Trump, you said help is on the way," Graham said. "That has to be real soon ... the people of Iran are begging you to be on their side."
He said the U.S. should intensify pressure on Iran's economy and consider strikes targeting what he described as infrastructure used to repress protesters.
Failing to follow through would destabilize the region for decades, Graham warned.
"If we all talk and we don't do it, we have 100 years of chaos," he said.
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