February 13, 2017
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie doubled down on his criticism of sanctuary cities during his monthly radio appearance on NJ 101.5, calling a proposal by state Democrats to protect funding for such cities "political pandering."
When asked about the issue last month, Christie told host Eric Scott that "the cavalier days are over" now that Barack Obama is no longer in office.
"You can't pick which laws to follow," Christie said, referring to the policy of sanctuary cities such as Philadelphia that withhold information about local immigrant residents from federal officials.
President Donald Trump last month signed an executive order that aims to strip federal funding from sanctuary cities, although Philadelphia officials said at the time it was unclear which funding streams, if any, would be affected by the directive. The decision nevertheless prompted Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clark to question whether the policy should be revisited.
In New Jersey, cities including Camden, Newark and Jersey City are all sanctuary cities with reason to take notice of Trump's executive order.
Democratic State Sen. Brian Stack, of Union City, last week introduced a bill that would require the state of New Jersey to reimburse local governments for federal funds lost due to "sanctuary jurisdiction" status.
Christie said Monday night that as long as he is governor, the proposal would be swiftly vetoed, despite acknowledging that it's "pretty big" if the federal government with withholds funding to cities. It's a policy he endorsed during his Republican bid for the presidency last year.
The governor, who is expected to meet with President Trump on Tuesday, said he has not received reports of any arrests in New Jersey during a weekend in which nearly 700 immigrants were rounded up in a series of nationwide raids.
