BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry today released the following statement regarding President Trump’s Executive Order that tackles illegal immigration and sanctuary cities:

“I applaud President Trump for initiating this process, and I am hopeful Congress will follow with penalties for cities supporting illegal activity. We have an illegal immigration problem across the country and certainly in Louisiana. I supported Louisiana Legislation to also tackle sanctuary cities. 

Here in Louisiana, we lost a local Fire Chief due to an accident caused by an illegal immigrant. We have seen children sexually exploited by illegal immigrants. It is flat out wrong when illegal immigrants have more rights than American citizens.

I fully support the President in withholding federal funding from cities who engage in sanctuary city polices. Sanctuary city policies are dangerous to citizens who are lawfully in this country. 

I am tired of politics getting in the way of public safety, and I look forward to working with a President who puts American citizens first.” 

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During the 2016 Legislative Session – Attorney General Jeff Landry testified in support of HB 1148, which would have banned funding from Louisiana cities engaging in sanctuary city policies. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House, but failed in the Senate. Regardless, Lafayette Sheriff Mark Garber recognized these policies as dangerous and immediately changed the policy in Lafayette Parish. Months later, when Attorney General Jeff Landry testified before Congress on this topic, New Orleans tweaked their policy so they are no longer prohibited from communicating with federal immigration authorities.