The News

House GOP Pushes Bills to Crack Down on Illegal Immigration

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, (L), joins House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican from Wisconsin, as the Republican-led House pushes ahead on legislation to crack down on illegal immigration, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 29, 2017. photo: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

WASHINGTON – The Republican-led House is moving forward with legislation to crack down on illegal immigration, a priority for President Donald Trump.

A bill known as “Kate’s Law” would impose harsher prison sentences on deportees who re-enter the United States.

The bill is named after 32-year old Kathryn Steinle, who was shot and killed in California in 2015 by a man who was in the U.S. illegally.

A second bill would strip federal dollars from self-proclaimed “sanctuary” cities that shield residents from federal immigration authorities.

Trump often railed against illegal immigration during his presidential campaign. He met at the White House on Wednesday with more than a dozen people whose family members were killed by people who were in the country illegally.

MATTHEW DALY