New GOP proposal unshackles victims of sanctuary policies to demand accountability: 'Reset our system'

"For years, sanctuary cities have openly defied federal law and endangered the American people by not only shielding illegals from the consequences of their crimes, but also ensuring they are allowed to remain free to victimize even more innocent Americans," Issa told Fox News Digital in a statement. "It's time to reset our system and put the law on the side of American citizens, not criminal illegals.

"Any individual who is a national of the United States may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States against a sanctuary jurisdiction in which an alien was located if that alien commits a crime against that individual, or an immediate family member of that individual, in the sanctuary jurisdiction, or in any other jurisdiction to which the alien later relocates, for such injunctive relief or compensatory damages as may be appropriate," the bill's text states.

In the legislation, sanctuary policies are considered ones that limit Immigration and Customs Enforcement "detainer compliance" and not allowing ICE "access to interview incarcerated aliens."

It is also meant to build on the proposed Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act, which would make it federal law to allow local authorities to work with the federal government on illegal immigration issues.

"This is deeply disappointing," Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond said in a statement about the failed repeal vote. "This was not about politics. This was about ensuring that criminals-rapists, child abusers, burglars, and violent offenders-are removed from our communities. Instead, fear and misinformation won the day, leaving law-abiding residents at greater risk."

Desmond and Supervisor Joel Anderson voted to get rid of the policy that was put in place by the board's Democratic majority in December, Democratic Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe argued that repealing it would then give a role outside the scope of the county's purview. The vote for the repeal was 2-1-1, meaning that nobody reached the necessary majority, as there was also a vacancy on the five-person board.

"Even in the very wording of policy L-2, it doesn't protect criminals. What it was about is ensuring that this county stays in its lane and protects our region and that the federal government stays in its lane," Montgomery Steppe said before voting "no." Her Democratic colleague, Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, abstained.