The Dangers of Sanctuary Policies – and How Some Cities Are Finally Realizing How Damaging They Are

Ugh. Sanctuary policies. Every time I hear about these, I tense up. How could I not?

I know that some cities put these in place merely for their own protection, in the name of public safety and resource allocation. But the truth is, they do more damage than you might think.

For those unfamiliar, sanctuary policies basically limit cooperation between city/state police and federal immigration authorities. Now, why these policies are put in place are beyond me, but mostly they’re set up by leaders who feel they’ll be safer by having them around.

But we’ve seen examples in the past where these policies have come back to bite these leaders in the rear. And there’s a huge incident in Washington that’s too scary to ignore.

Last week, a commercial truck driver ended up being arrested for causing a six-car pile-up in Lacey, including a school bus. Fortunately, there were no casualties involved, but there could have been. And had a sanctuary policy not gotten in the way, it never would have happened.

The suspect in question is 40-year old Juan Hernandez-Santos, who hails from Mexico and is an illegal immigrant. And according to Homeland Security, he’s had situations like this that should’ve stopped him from ever getting back behind the wheel of a car.

First off, he didn’t have a proper CDL license. Worse yet, the truck he was driving – which jackknifed after he failed to operate it properly – was uninsured. But hang on, it gets worse.

Hernandez-Santos has already had previous incidents involving a commercial vehicle, including driving without a license back in 2008, a DUI hit-and-run that same year, and a 2020 arrest for yet another DUI. That should’ve been a red flag right there.

Tricia McLaughlin, who serves as Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, noted, “This story could have had a very different tragic ending. The sanctuary politicians in Washington failed once again to protect American citizens by refusing to honor our ICE arrest detainer.”

Yep. Thanks to sanctuary policy, an ICE detainer placed on Hernandez-Santos was looked past, and police were powerless to stop him from getting back behind the wheel of a vehicle until he had taken part in this accident.

Trooper Kameron Watts noted, “In this situation, there is a lot of negligence involved. We actually dispatched some commercial vehicle enforcement officers to the scene to do a full-blown inspection of the truck itself, and the paperwork all semi-truck drivers are supposed to have on them.”

But, of course, sanctuary policy won out over them.

See the danger here? Some politicians – namely Democrats – are more concerned about protecting these violent illegal immigrants and enacting idiotic policies like this one instead of, oh, I don’t know, letting the police do their job.

But thankfully, some cities are starting to see the damage from these. Not all, mind you, but it’s progress.

The New Hampshire town of Hanover recently did away with a prior ordinance that stopped law enforcement from cooperating with ICE agents. Because of this, they’re not able to work more closely together, thanks to a unanimous vote by Hanover’s Selectboard.

Governor Kelly Ayotte made it clear. “There will be no sanctuary cities in New Hampshire. Period. End of story.”

Hear, hear. She gets it. The people of Hanover – and New Hampshire’s cities – get it. Don’t limit your officers. Let them enforce the law without any sort of protective policies put in place.

Illegal immigrant criminals are doing a great deal of harm right now. I actually just read a story where one actually bit a police officer after trying to resist arrest. These are the criminals we’re trying to stop.

These foolhardy leaders that believe their sanctuary policies are making a difference need to take a closer look. A closer look at incidents like the one Hernandez-Santos just created. Because, honestly, more and more people are getting injured (or even killed) from situations like this.

Forget sanctuary. It’s now just a matter of security. And taking care of the citizens that matter.

New Hampshire gets it, and I certainly hope other cities do, too.