The Democratic candidate for Senate from Iowa was forced to ask a group of journalists to explain what a sanctuary city is during an editorial board interview earlier this week with the Sioux City Journal, the Washington Examiner has learned.
Patty Judge, who is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, was asked about her position on sanctuary city policies, only to respond: “I am really not clear in my mind what a sanctuary city is.”
“How about sanctuary cities?” board members asked the former lieutenant governor. “Would you support denying [federal] aid to sanctuary cities?”
“Well, you know I am really not clear in my mind what a sanctuary city is and I guess there are cities that —,” Judge began to respond.
An editorial board member noted that San Francisco is a well-known sanctuary city, meaning local law enforcement officials are limited in how they can interact with federal immigration authorities and may be advised not to deport immigrants who are found living illegally within the jurisdiction.
“And why do they qualify [for federal aid]? What do they do that makes them a sanctuary city?” Judge asked, admitting that she’s “actually asked my staff the same.”
“It’s usually through a policy or through a law they pass that they do not and will not — it limits the extent to which they must cooperate with federal immigration officials. For whatever reason they feel it’s beneficial for them to not cooperate — they think perhaps that fosters better relationships with that population within their jurisdiction,” the board member explained.
Judge also drew a blank when she was asked about Sarah’s Law, a bill that would have forced federal immigration officials to detain illegal immigrants who have been charged with a crime in which the victim was killed or seriously injured.
The legislation was named after Sarah Root, a 21-year-old Iowan killed earlier this year by an illegal immigrant who had been drag racing while under the influence of alcohol.
“Are you familiar with Sarah’s Law?” she was asked.
“No, I’m sorry I am not,” Judge responded, before claiming to remember the incident after a member of the editorial board mentioned Root had attended college in Iowa.
“There’s a bill that’s been proposed in Congress … it would essentially require if there was a death or serious injury to someone caused by an undocumented individual that that federal immigration authorities would be required to be notified and they would take custody of that individual if a serious injury or a death resulted,” a board member explained.
“But if you are not familiar with it, it’s probably not fair to put you on the spot and ask you if you would support that legislation?”
“Well it’s certainly something I would look at,” Judge said.
Grassley’s campaign manager, Bob Haus, ripped the GOP senator’s opponent for demonstrating a lack of familiarity with either topic, both of which have been mentioned routinely by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“Patty Judge’s stunning lack of basic knowledge about critically important issues further proves how unqualified she is to represent Iowa in the United States Senate,” Haus said in a statement.
“At a bare minimum, Iowa deserves elected officials that are at least aware of the problems we face as a state and as a nation, not someone who is so unprepared to serve that she has to be schooled about the job.”
The latest RealClearPolitics state-level polling average shows Grassley leading Judge by 13.2 percentage points in the Hawkeye State.
