The Aldermen of New Haven, Connecticut, have just approved ID cards for illegal immigrants in that City. The purpose is to allow them to open bank accounts and receive city services including welfare. Was anyone on the Board of Aldermen thinking when they adopted this measure?

To put this in context, would they even consider offering Get Out of Jail Free cards for bank robbers in New Haven? How about Free Lance Pharmacy cards for drug dealers? I shudder to think what they might do, to give a free ride to rapists or child molesters.

There is, of course, a serious point here. Under federal law, it is a separate violation of federal law for anyone, including an Alderman from New Haven, to deliberately assist someone else in violating federal law. There is also a practical side for dealing with New Haven and all other “sanctuary” cities.

There is no major urban area in the nation which could survive more than three months without the steady influx of federal funds for a variety of programs. If Congress passed a law saying that no more federal money from ANY federal program would go to any city that deliberately encouraged violations of federal immigration law, what would happen?

There would be a loud sucking sound. And then New Haven, Los Angeles, and all the other “sanctuary” cities would get back in line, PDQ. Actions like this happen whenever politicians get divorced from reality. Cutting off the money is the shotgun wedding to reintroduce them to that reality.