Fox & Friends guest claims California is “outlawing crime-fighting” with “sanctuary state” bill

National Sheriffs Association's Jonathan Thompson: “The values that the legislature and the governor are honoring are those of thugs, rapists, murderers, and serial criminals”

Written by Nina Mast

Published

Fox & Friends guest Jonathan Thompson, executive director of the National Sheriffs Association, criticized California's recently passed “sanctuary state” bill, the California Values Act, claiming it is “outlawing crime-fighting” and honors the values only of “thugs, rapists, murderers, and serial criminals.”

The legislation, which was applauded by the ACLU for its protection of immigrant rights, does not bar federal immigration agents from conducting operations or prohibit joint law enforcement operations. Rather, it prohibits state and local law enforcement from inquiring about a person’s immigration status, detaining someone for ICE, or sharing information about undocumented immigrants with immigration agents -- or transferring them to those officials -- unless the immigrants have been convicted of one of a list of 800 charges, which includes mostly violent or serious criminal infractions but also some nonviolent crimes. 

Right-wing media frequently fearmonger about sanctuary policies, claiming that they protect criminals and make cities less safe. But, in fact, studies show that sanctuary cities are as safe or safer than other cities, and many law enforcement officials have said that maintaining trust with immigrant communities is necessary in order to fight crime.

In the segment, Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt laid misplaced blame on sanctuary cities for the death of Kate Steinle, which the network has exploited in the past to fearmonger about immigrants. From the October 10 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): So, what's your fear?

JONATHAN THOMPSON: This is reckless. It's -- the irony of all of this is they just outlawed crime-fighting in California, and they did it with something called the Values Act. And that's what's really troubling to most of us is because the values that the legislature and the governor are honoring are those of thugs, rapists, murderers, and serial criminals. And this is what's really dangerous. It's a slippery slope. And that's the problem. And we have to do something. We have to have Congress do something. And DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] here in Washington has been part of the swamp problem. Obama holdovers are dragging their feet, and they will not move this. The president has spoken to us about it. He's eager to get this done. Thank God the Justice Department is moving with all speed. But we still need solutions, and we've offered solutions. Twice we've offered solutions to DHS. But yet, here we sit. And in California, someone is about to be harmed, and it's preventable. That's the crazy part of this whole thing.

[...]

EARHARDT: Jonathan, it's almost like your officers, or the sheriffs, are being handcuffed instead of the criminals.

THOMPSON: It's a terrible system that we're building. And that's exactly right. As I said, we're outlawing crime-fighting. Why don't we just say, “Hey, take away the badge. Take away the sidearm. And please don't do crime. We really don't want you to do that.”