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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025

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As others have gestured at, this is just a rehash of the sanctuary cities arguments from Trump 1. The problem with using state courts/police as a convenient piggyback for immigration enforcement is that is encourages illegal immigrants to never show up at court or co-operate with police ever, either for their own minor offences or as witnesses etc.

This seems different from Sanctuary Cities. The Constitution prohibits the Feds from commandeering the States (& by extension localities) but it certainly can mandate that they do not actively obstruct it.

Oh sure legally but the object-level principle at stake is basically the same - whether or not we should avoid using participation in local legal proceedings as a means of deporting illegal immigrants.

In that sense, I don't think it's a rehash of the sanctuary cities argument, not least because that entire debate was far larger than just "avoid the courthouses".

I don't think most of the country finds 'we should not use effective tools to enforce our immigration laws because it will encourage illegal immigrants to engage in more criminality' to be a very persuasive argument.

Do you think we should attach immigration enforcement to the census? Why or why not?

That will just lead to a presumption of flight for illegal immigrants in all red states and therefore bail will likely be abolished for them in many cases, making ICE’s job even easier. This kind of heightening the contradictions stuff is good for the right, let there be a thousand headlines about illegals migrants skipping bail.