How Sanctuary Policies Led to LA Riots | 6.14.25

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary Episode: How Sanctuary Policies Led to LA Riots | 6.14.25
Release Date: June 14, 2025
Hosts: John Bickler & Georgia Howell
Guest: Hannah Davis, Policy Analyst at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

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Introduction

In the June 14, 2025 episode of Morning Wire, hosts John Bickler and Georgia Howell delve into the contentious issue of sanctuary policies and their role in the recent Los Angeles riots. Joined by Hannah Davis, a Policy Analyst at FAIR, the discussion explores the proliferation of sanctuary jurisdictions, their impact on public safety and national security, and the political and legal battles surrounding them.

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Understanding Sanctuary Jurisdictions

Georgia Howell initiates the conversation by defining sanctuary jurisdictions:

“At the root of it, a sanctuary jurisdiction is going to obstruct federal immigration agencies from enforcing federal immigration law. And so that can be seen in a plethora of ways, namely not honoring ICE detainers or ensuring that ICE agents aren't allowed into a jail system or courthouse, or instructing local law enforcement to not communicate with ICE agencies. And California is particularly egregious. They have a statewide policy and then multiple counties and cities have anti have sanctuary policies in place that are anti cooperation with ICE agents.”
[02:42]

Hannah Davis elaborates on how these policies hinder federal efforts:

“If LA didn't have sanctuary policies, immigration officials would be able to, in a controlled environment, go into the jail system in California and obtain the criminal illegal alien that they're seeking. But because they have sanctuary policies, they have to risk their lives and do very dangerous raids and sweeps...”
[03:31]

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Impact on Public Safety and National Security

The discussion shifts to the tangible effects of sanctuary policies on community safety:

Georgia Howell highlights the dangers posed to ICE agents:

“They have to risk their lives and do very dangerous raids and sweeps, which a lot of times have a lot of negative media feedback in it. And it goes to a security issue where we're seeing right now in LA and across the nation. ... it really does put the lives of ICE agents in danger.”
[03:31]

The hosts and guest examine how these policies exacerbate tensions and lead to violence, as seen in recent riots and protests.

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Political Debate: Blame and Responsibility

A heated debate unfolds over who is responsible for escalating tensions:

Hannah Davis argues that sanctuary policies are the root cause:

“...the Trump administration is using military force to assist ICE and to assist local police officers. They're overwhelmed. And that's going to probably continue to happen. And it's only because of sanctuary policies that are already in place that we're seeing the results of them.”
[04:47]

This perspective counters the Democratic stance, which places blame on ICE for aggressive enforcement tactics.

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Growth of Sanctuary Jurisdictions

The episode examines the rapid increase in sanctuary jurisdictions:

Georgia Howell provides alarming statistics:

“Back in 2018 was when FAIR did its last report, and we found a little over 550. So it's been a few years, but as of May of 2025, we found 1,003 sanctuary jurisdictions across the US...”
[05:44]

She traces the movement's evolution from protecting noncitizens reporting crimes without fear of deportation to opposing federal immigration enforcement more broadly.

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Legal and Leadership Challenges

The conversation turns to the legal battles and the need for strong leadership to dismantle sanctuary policies:

Hannah Davis emphasizes the supremacy of federal law:

“Federal law makes it very clear the law of the land takes precedent over any conflicting state or local policy, including immigration policy.”
[06:34]

Georgia Howell advocates for state and federal action:

“States need to use our report to track these jurisdictions and to go after them to enact anti sanctuary policy at the statewide level, to actually put enforcement mechanisms in their policies, to put teeth in them.”
[07:43]

She cites Indiana as a model, where state authorities successfully pressured jurisdictions to abandon sanctuary policies.

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Correlation Between Sanctuary Policies and Crime Rates

Addressing the link between sanctuary policies and increased crime, Georgia Howell states:

“States that tend to have high population of illegal aliens does correlate to crime. ... they have a higher population and with a higher population comes higher crime.”
[09:46]

She argues that sanctuary policies create environments where illegal immigrants may feel emboldened to commit crimes without fear of deportation.

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Case Study: Tennessee's Struggle with Sanctuary Policies

The episode explores Tennessee's challenges in enforcing anti-sanctuary laws despite being a conservative state:

Georgia Howell discusses ongoing efforts to eliminate sanctuary jurisdictions in Tennessee:

“Marsha Blackburn, Senator Blackburn is breathing down the neck of the Nashville mayor's noncompliance. She's called on the DOJ to openly investigate him for doxxing ICE agents and releasing their information publicly.”
[10:58]

She remains optimistic, noting that sustained pressure and legislative action could significantly reduce the number of sanctuary jurisdictions:

“They've got senators cracking down on mayors. And I think by the next time FAIR has one of these reports, Tennessee might not even be on the list...”
[11:23]

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with a call to action for stronger leadership and enforcement of anti-sanctuary policies to enhance public safety and uphold federal law. Hosts John Bickler and Georgia Howell, alongside guest Hannah Davis, underscore the critical need to address the challenges posed by sanctuary jurisdictions to prevent further civil unrest and ensure national security.

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Notable Quotes:

• "States need to use our report to track these jurisdictions and to go after them to enact anti sanctuary policy at the statewide level, to actually put enforcement mechanisms in their policies, to put teeth in them."
  — Georgia Howell [07:43]

• "Federal law makes it very clear the law of the land takes precedent over any conflicting state or local policy, including immigration policy."
  — Hannah Davis [06:34]

• "They have to risk their lives and do very dangerous raids and sweeps, which a lot of times have a lot of negative media feedback in it."
  — Hannah Davis [03:31]

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For more insights and detailed discussions, tune into Morning Wire by The Daily Wire.

Transcript

[John Bickler]

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[Georgia Howell]

On.

[John Bickler]

The anti ICE riots in la, San Francisco, Seattle and other deep blue.

[Hannah Davis]

Cities this week have shined a glaring.

[John Bickler]

Spotlight on sanctuary policies. These jurisdictions refuse to work with federal.

[Hannah Davis]

Officials to detain criminal illegal immigrants and.

[John Bickler]

Often take steps to actively obstruct ICE operations.

[Hannah Davis]

In this episode, we sit down with an expert to discuss the explosion of these sanctuary jurisdictions in recent years and their impact on public safety and national security. I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickler with Georgia Howell. It's Saturday, June 14th and this is a weekend edition of Morning Wire.

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[Hannah Davis]

Joining us now is Hannah Davis, Policy Analyst at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Hannah, thanks so much for coming on.

[Georgia Howell]

Thank you for having me.

[Hannah Davis]

So let's talk first about the most Immediate news of the week. We've seen massive protests and a lot of violence in the LA area. In San Francisco, your report found that California districts are among the most extreme examples of these sanctuary policies. First, big picture, how do these jurisdictions work against ICE and federal officials?

[Georgia Howell]

At the root of it, a sanctuary jurisdiction is going to obstruct federal immigration agencies from enforcing federal immigration law. And so that can be seen in a plethora of ways, namely not honoring ICE detainers or ensuring that ICE agents aren't allowed into a jail system or courthouse, or instructing local law enforcement to not communicate with ICE agencies. And California is particularly egregious. They have a statewide policy and then multiple counties and cities have anti have sanctuary policies in place that are anti cooperation with ICE agents.

[Hannah Davis]

Now, your team recently published a major report on sanctuary cities that underscores the public safety and national security implications of these policies. Can you unpack that more for us? The safety and security issues at play here?

[Georgia Howell]

I think LA is a real time example of how sanctuary policies have proliferated into anti enforcement and anti cooperation and then it takes to the streets. You know, if LA didn't have sanctuary policies, immigration officials would be able to, in a controlled environment, go into the jail system in California and obtain the criminal illegal alien that they're seeking. But because they have sanctuary policies, they have to risk their lives and do very dangerous raids and sweeps, which a lot of times have a lot of negative media feedback in it. And it goes to a security issue where we're seeing right now in LA and across the nation. I mean, you mentioned other cities in California, but we're seeing it in Baltimore, North Carolina. You know, these anti sanctuary places are having raids and protests and it really does put the lives of ICE agents in danger.

[Hannah Davis]

Now, that argument ties directly to the PR battles we're seeing between Democrats and Republicans this week over who's really to blame for escalating the situation. Democrats say it's ICE for coming into cities to arrest criminal illegals, but the Trump administration says it's actually these sanctuary policies that are escalating things. So is the administration correct then?

[Georgia Howell]

I think that's exactly right. That's Fair's stance. You know, people deserve to feel safe in their communities. And I know a lot of people are cracking down on the current administration for using Marines or the National Guard to kind of subsidize enforcement in these sanctuary jurisdictions. But it's because of the rioting and it's because of the protests that people don't feel safe taking their children to school are going to work. And because of that, you know, the Trump administration is using military force to assist ICE and to assist local police officers. They're overwhelmed. And that's going to probably continue to happen. And it's only because of sanctuary policies that are already in place that we're seeing the results of them.

[Hannah Davis]

As you highlighted, there's a number of these jurisdictions across the country, and your research team looked into the history of sanctuary Cities in the 1990s. There was only a few, and now there's hundreds. What did you guys find in terms of the growth of this movement?

[Georgia Howell]

Yeah, so back in 2018 was when Fair did its last report, and we found a little over 550. So it's been a few years, but as of May of 2025, we found 1,003 sanctuary jurisdictions across the US which is a sobering assessment of what's going on in our nation. And unfortunately, what began as a small movement initially surrounding the concept that noncitizens should be able to report crimes to local law enforcement without fear of deportation, has been emboldening radical opposition to the enforcement of federal immigration policy.

[Hannah Davis]

So how do these cities get away with this? Federal authority is supposed to trump, you know, state level authority when it comes to immigration in particular. It seems like a clear cut argument from the federal side. How can it be that we have over a thousand, you say jurisdictions, and they've also maintained these policies for several years?

[Georgia Howell]

That's a great question. You're exactly right. Federal law makes it very clear the law of the land takes precedent over any conflicting state or local policy, including immigration policy. And as easily as states are enacting anti sanctuary policies, states are enacting pro sanctuary policies. And so I think it just takes a strong commander in chief to crack down on sanctuary policies. And it takes the, the state itself to actually care, to care about its constituents, to care about public safety, and crack down on the jurisdictions that have sanctuary policies within them. I mean, we found in this report that there are multiple states that already have anti sanctuary laws on the books, statewide policies, but they still have jurisdictions within them that are operating as a sanctuary. And so hopefully this report can be used as a blueprint for those states to go after those jurisdictions.

[Hannah Davis]

So it really has been a question of having leadership who's willing to highlight the fact that these are unconstitutional laws.

[Georgia Howell]

Yes, yes, leadership at the state level and the federal level.

[Hannah Davis]

So there's the leadership and then there's the legal front. What does your organization fare? What do you advocate for in terms of legal action that can be taken to better protect public safety and national.

[Georgia Howell]

Security, essentially the continuance of what's been going on. We need states to use our report to track these jurisdictions and to go after them to enact anti sanctuary policy at the statewide level, to actually put enforcement mechanisms in their policies, to put teeth in them. I think Indiana serves as a good blueprint for states to follow. They've been getting it right. The AG in Indiana realized that he's got jurisdictions in his state that aren't abiding by their statewide anti sanctuary policy. And so he released letters and warnings to them and said, hey, I'm going to crack down on you. I'll see you in court. And if you don't pay attention and listen and redact your policies. And most of them did. Now, they weren't 100% successful in eradicating all of the jurisdictions, but for the majority of them, they did change their policies. And if other states followed Indiana or even Florida or Texas in pushing and enacting strong anti sanctuary legislation at the state level, the next time fair does one of these lists, I would venture that the amount of sanctuary jurisdictions would be a lot lower than it is now.

[Hannah Davis]

What about when you have governors like Gavin Newsom and Tim Walz who are openly defying the Trump administration? What has to happen then from the federal side if you're not going to have it from the top of the state?

[Georgia Howell]

Yeah, that's a great question. From the federal side, going after states that continue to have sanctuary jurisdictions proliferate or continue to crack down on anti sanctuary jurisdictions within their sanctuary state is a big issue. And what the federal government can do is withhold funding. And that's something that I know that the Trump administration had a legal battle with his last term, but I think that if he goes after funding, if he withholds state funding from states that have sanctuary policies, the power is in the purse. And I think a lot of states might change their tune. Now that's not a promise and it's not guaranteed, but it's something that they could do to start cracking down on them.

[Hannah Davis]

Now, in your research, has your team found a clear correlation between these sanctuary jurisdictions and illegal immigrant crime or other data that would really back up the public safety, safety side of your argument.

[Georgia Howell]

Yeah, not inherently correlated, but it's. There's definitely been a trend when it comes to sanctuary cities. They incentivize illegal immigration and then because of that they have a higher population and with a higher population comes higher crime. But even in States like Georgia, you know, where women can't go for runs without being murdered by a criminal illegal alien who is here illegally and then is residing in a sanctuary jurisdiction. So yes, we've seen that throughout the. Throughout a couple years now where states that tend to have high population of illegal aliens does correlate to crime. And usually those illegal aliens came in under the Biden administration and they're harbored because they're in a sanctuary state. They feel safe to commit crimes. And that's something that we have seen a trend. Yes.

[Hannah Davis]

Final question, one that's very close to home, if you will. You mentioned that some of these sanctuary cities are found in states that already have laws against them. Here in our hometown of Nashville, we have officials trying to maintain sanctuary policies against state law. So how is this possible in a deep red state like Tennessee that you could still have its biggest city be a sanctuary city?

[Georgia Howell]

Yeah, that was one of the most eye opening thing here at FAIR when we were doing the report is that inherently southern states, predominantly conservative states, and Tennessee is a great example because they actually already have an anti sanctuary provision on the books, but they still have four jurisdictions. How is it falling under their nose that way? And it's interesting to see, but I don't think all hope is lost for Tennessee. Marsha Blackburn, Senator Blackburn is breathing down the neck of the Nashville mayor's noncompliance. She's called on the DOJ to openly investigate him for doxxing ICE agents and releasing their information publicly. The governor of Tennessee recently passed anti sanctuary legislation that makes it a class E felony if any jurisdiction votes for sanctuary policies. And so things like that prove that Tennessee, regardless of the fact that there are a few jurisdictions within the Volunteer State, have gone the right way. They've implemented policies at the state level. They've got senators cracking down on mayors. And I think by the next time FAIR has one of these reports, Tennessee might not even be on the list because of how few they already had and how they're cracking down. They're following in the blueprints of Indiana, as I mentioned earlier, following the blueprint of Texas and Florida. And that's the best thing that any state across the nation should do right now. That's the only thing they can do is crack down on these sanctuary jurisdictions.

[Hannah Davis]

I'm sure there are a lot of people hoping that proves to be true. Hannah, thank you so much for joining us.

[Georgia Howell]

All right, thanks for having me.

[Hannah Davis]

That was FAIR policy analyst Hannah Davis and this has been a weekend edition of Morning wire. This is Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, Watch Parenting, available exclusively on Daily Wire. Plus, we're dealing with misbehaviors with Our son throws tantrums. Her son turned to some substance abuse. Go to dailywireplus.com today.