Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation outlawing sanctuary cities in the state.
“We are a nation of laws, and immigration laws will be enforced in Montana. Criminal, illegal aliens who pose public safety threats to our communities have no sanctuary in Montana,” Gianforte said before signing the bill.
The legislation, HB200, prohibits local jurisdictions in the state from adopting sanctuary city policies and outlines penalties for cities that do not comply with the law. The state’s legislature had passed similar legislation in 2019, but that effort was vetoed by Democratic former Gov. Steve Bullock.
The move comes as a growing number of migrants have attempted to cross the U.S. border in recent months, a situation Republicans have classified as a crisis. The Biden administration has so far downplayed the severity of the situation at the border, classifying it as a “challenge.”
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Particularly troubling has been the surge of unaccompanied minors being detained at the border, with agents encountering 9,000 such individuals last month alone.
Detention facilities on the border have struggled to keep up with the surge, with one crowded facility in Texas currently housing more than 4,000 migrants. The situation has been made worse by the pandemic, with COVID-19 rates higher among the migrant populations than in the general population of border states.
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The practice of becoming a sanctuary jurisdiction has spread across the country in recent years, with many of the nation’s most well-known locations, such as New York City and Los Angeles, adopting the policy. The jurisdictions participating typically pass laws or ordinances that shield immigrants from federal immigration authorities, such as prohibiting local police departments from asking about an individual's immigration status.
Montana did not have any sanctuary jurisdictions in the state before passing the law.
