Rep. Tom Tancredo may have surprised even himself this morning when the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a Homeland Security appropriations bill that included a Tancredo-sponsored amendment that would withhold federal emergency services funds from so-called “sanctuary cities.” Tancredo and others have charged that Denver is one city deserving of the label. The Rocky Mountain News reports:
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The Littleton Republican’s amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill appears to have no language specifically defining a sanctuary city. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has long disputed giving the city that label.
“The issue has come to fruition,” Tancredo said by cell phone after the vote. “The people of the country really have spoken. It’s a really good indicator of just how much closer to the people the House is than the Senate is.”
The House passed the amendment, 234 to 189, with 50 Democrats voting in favor.
The bill still faces another vote in the House and a vote in the Senate, and with the vague and legally meaningless term “sanctuary city” in it, it’s hard to see the amendment going anywhere. Still, it’s a rare win for Tancredo on the immigration front.
