Democrats call Republicans' immigration bill 'the Donald Trump Act'

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last updated 22 July 2015

Republicans in Congress pushed legislation on Tuesday that would penalize cities shielding illegal immigrants. In retaliation, House Democrats Tuesday brought up a name particularly inflammatory to the immigration debate: Donald Trump.

Party leaders labeled the "Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act," a Republican-sponsored bill that would crack down on so-called "sanctuary cities" by barring the Justice Department from giving them federal funds, "the Donald Trump Act," The New York Times reports. The bill was inspired by the July murder of Karthryn Steinle, who was allegedly shot and killed in San Francisco by an undocumented immigrant who had been previously released by a city jail. The case has been highlighted by Trump, who infamously called most Mexican immigrants "killers" and "rapists."

And while the Republicans pushing the sanctuary cities legislation certainly are not construing their argument in nearly as an egregious, inflammatory fashion, some Democrats think that Trump's opinions pretty accurately reflect those of some Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) commented on Tuesday: "When it comes to immigration policy, there is no meaningful difference between the Republican Party and Donald Trump."