Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind. on Wednesday said taxpayers should not have to subsidize sanctuary cities and claimed his bill would crack down on illegal immigration.
Messer, a Republican and chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" that his bill would require federal agencies to give funding to states and cities based solely on the number of legal residents and citizens as current federal programs distribute funding based on "total population, which under the census includes illegal immigrants."
The Funding Americans First Act "would require that any population calculations used for allocation of federal dollars, not include illegal immigrants. It should just be taxpayers. It's crazy that these communities literally get a financial bonus for having illegal immigrants and we need to stop it."
Messer, who is also running for Senate, said he was confident his bill would get support.
"Frankly, as the American people learn about this, it’s going to gain momentum quickly, and we'll get this changed," he said.
He said the only reason there is any controversy at all about the bill is because Democrats have become the "party of illegal immigration."
But Messer reiterated his bill represents the majority view.
"If securing the border and stopping illegal immigration was unpopular, then Hillary Clinton would have won the last presidential election," he said. "President Trump won on a platform of building a wall, securing our border, getting tough on illegal immigration."
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