Florida Congressman Vern Buchanan is moving to come down hard on sanctuary cities

With President-elect Trump about to take the Oval Office for himself, the mayors of many sanctuary cities are doubling down against the incoming Republican's promise to get tough on illegal immigration. In response, political leaders are beginning to move on sanctuary cities in order to shut them down, and make sure immigration laws are followed.

On Thursday, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton sat down with The Blaze's Lawrence Jones to talk about how Texas is taking steps to punish cities that would harbor illegal aliens.

But Texas isn't the only state with politicians looking to get tough on law breaking cities. Congressman Vern Buchanan of Florida is calling for measures that would make keeping illegal immigrants something costly.

“Public safety must be our top concern,” said Buchanan in a press release.

He then went on to say that he's promoting the passage of two bills. One called "Kate's Law," and the other called "Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act"

The latter would cut federal funding to any city unwilling to comply with federal immigration laws. Over 400 jurisdictions in the U.S. have some sort of sanctuary law. Ten of the largest sanctuary cities received $700 million in grants in 2016 alone.

Kate's Law — so named after Kate Steinle who was murdered by an illegal immigrant deported no less than five times — would toughen the penalties on anyone who is caught, and has already been deported before.

“Taxpayers should not be supporting cities that ignore federal law,” Buchanan said. “While we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. Our number one priority should be targeting criminals that are here illegally.”

“Washington needs to send a clear message to sanctuary cities – if you don’t follow the laws, you don’t get federal funding,” Buchanan continued. “It is dangerous and unconscionable that so many cities across the country blatantly ignore the rule of law and still get rewarded with taxpayer dollars.”

According to the press release, several of the nation's leading law enforcement and immigration organizations have already endorsed both bills, including the National Sheriff's Association, the National Association of Police Organizations, and Federation for American Immigration Reform.