Kaleb Poor
Staff Writer
A bill that would effectively ban the creation of “sanctuary cities” was filed in the Wyoming House of Representatives on Friday, as the legislature kicked off its first session of 2020.
HB0108, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Gray (R-Natrona), would ban any city, town, or county in Wyoming from adopting “immigration sanctuary policies”. Under the bill, adoption of such policies would be subject to punishment by the state, which would have the legal authority to cut off all state funding and state-disbursed federal funding to the body that adopted those policies.
“I really liked it,” said Lily Guthrie, president of UW’s Turning Point USA chapter. “I thought it was something that could really benefit Wyoming… it stems back to the larger issue of [national] immigration.”
Immigration has been a hotly contested issue for decades, and neither the conservative nor liberal wings of American politics have been able to reach a solution. Following a sharp uptick in the intensity of rhetoric around the issue in 2016, a handful of progressive bastions around the United States have adopted these “sanctuary” policies.
In this case, sanctuary locales are government bodies, usually a city or county government, which offers refuge to persons living in the United States illegally. Most sanctuary locales that exist today appear to have been formed in response to the treatment of migrant children apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sanctuary cities aid in the apprehension of the minority of dangerous, undocumented immigrants. They say this is because undocumented immigrants are more willing to come forward to report crimes within undocumented communities when they do not fear repercussions.
According to the ACLU website, the ACLU “opposes congressional efforts to punish cities that have tried to improve public safety by taking common sense measures to build community trust and ensure that crime victims cooperate with the police”.
It is also important to take into account the upcoming 2020 census, in which the United States will endeavor to count every person living in the country accurately. The census does not take into account whether or not a person is a legal citizen, and the addition of citizenship questions to the census was shot down in a recent Supreme Court case.
Though Wyoming’s population reportedly grew in 2018-19, the U.S. Census Bureau itself estimated the state’s population grew by just 1,158 persons. That is a growth rate of only 0.2 percent following years of consistent decline.
Already the least populous state in the Union, an undercounting of Wyoming’s population could have adverse effects on the rural state’s development throughout the 2020s. Guthrie, however, remains optimistic about the bill’s potential impacts.
“America is the greatest, most welcoming country in the world,” Guthrie said, “and if you come here legally and follow the procedures, it’s a great place to live, and it’s a great place to build a family or start a business. I don’t think it will affect any person living here illegally, minority, or not.”
To date, no city, town, or county in Wyoming has adopted immigration sanctuary policies. Wyoming is, however, widely considered to be a “second amendment sanctuary.” While, in effect, immigration sanctuaries and second amendment sanctuaries appear to be quite similar, Guthrie says there are key differences.
“I don’t think it’s really difficult to find the difference between an immigration sanctuary and a second amendment sanctuary,” Guthrie said. “I think it’s a constitutional right, the Second Amendment, and an immigration sanctuary doesn’t fit in the same guidelines. There’s no right to live here illegally.”
Clearly a complex and unclear issue, it remains to be seen whether HB0108 will be accepted as law, or if it will have a positive impact on the Wyoming community.
