Just one month ago, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama all blasted Donald Trump for the vicious attack suffered by Paul Pelosi.

But wait — the man who attacked Mr. Pelosi in his kitchen is an illegal alien.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer on Canadian national David DePape with San Francisco County Jail, Nov. 1, following his Oct. 28 arrest,” the agency said.

Authorities charged DePape, 42, with assault and attempted kidnapping after he allegedly entered the Pelosi home and attacked Pelosi with a hammer.

Had his critics supported Donald Trump’s initiatives to defend the Rule of Law, this attack would never have happened.

Why not?

The City by the Bay is a Criminal’s Paradise — A ‘Sanctuary City’

Well, few news accounts mentioned it, but San Francisco is a Sanctuary City. And that’s a critical factor in the attack.

So what does “Sanctuary City” mean?

It describes a policy that offers illegal alien criminals a generous panoply of legal protections that have made the City by the Bay a criminal’s paradise. Those protections have been in place since 1989.

That’s right — for more than three decades, San Francisco has been a magnet for illegal alien criminals because its “Sanctuary” law forbids City employees to use City resources in several ways, including:

• Assist or cooperate with any ICE investigation, detention, or arrest relating to alleged violations of the civil provisions of federal immigration law.
• Ask about immigration status on any application for City benefits, services, or opportunities, except as required by federal or state statute, regulation, or court decision.
• Limit City services or benefits based on immigration status, unless required by federal or state statute or regulation, public assistance criteria, or court decision.
• Provide information about the release status or personal information of any individual, except in limited circumstances when law enforcement may respond to ICE requests for notification about when an individual will be released from custody.
• Detain an individual on the basis of a civil immigration detainer after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody.

Pelosi is Only the Policy’s Latest Victim

The attack on Paul Pelosi is not the only outrage caused by this policy’s defiance of law and common sense. In fact, those crimes have been going on for years.

One of the most outrageous instances occurred on July 1, 2015. That’s when 32-year-old Kathryn “Kate” Steinle was shot and killed while walking with her father and a friend along Pier 14 in the Embarcadero district of San Francisco. Kate Steinle was struck in the back by a single bullet. Her killer, José Ines García Zarate, had been deported five times.

That’s right. If San Francisco had cooperated with federal authorities, Kate Steinle would still be alive. But its “Sanctuary” law forbade it.

Equally outrageous is the fact that two years later, Zarate was found not guilty of murder.

He was then deported for a sixth time.

And what about those critics of President Trump’s efforts to enforce immigration law?

In spite the murder of Kate Steinle and countless other victims, Joe Biden supports Sanctuary Cities. Nancy Pelosi supports them. California’s Catholic bishops support them (although they have removed the August 2017 link to their support from their website).

Had these collaborators supported Donald Trump’s efforts to force Sanctuary Cities to follow federal law, Mr. Pelosi would be fit as a fiddle at the San Francisco Philharmonic today.

Save Innocent Lives — Call Congress Today!

In 2016, over 100 sanctuary cities in the U.S. had received over $27 billion dollars in federal funding. When President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order to stop those funds, Republican leader Paul Ryan would do nothing to help.

In fact, when he was Speaker of the House, Ryan actually fled to escape a group of mothers whose children had been killed by illegal aliens.

In January, Kevin McCarthy will be the Republican Speaker. But he was Paul Ryan’s faithful deputy for years, and many conservatives fear that he will prove to be as feeble as Paul Ryan was.

Will McCarthy fold his hand?

Not if he confronts the immigration issue head-on, by honoring Paul Pelosi and the thousands of other victims of criminal illegal aliens.

On Day One — January 3, 2023 — McCarthy will accept the Speaker’s gavel from Nancy Pelosi. What greater thanks could he give Madame Speaker than to honor her husband?

When he accepts the gavel, McCarthy should immediately ask Congress to pass unanimously a Resolution condemning any state or other municipality that protects illegal alien criminals from the due process of law, and promising to pass legislation to end “sanctuaries” for good.

Call your Member of Congress today. Demand that Congress pass the Paul Pelosi Protection Act.

Christopher Manion earned a Ph.D. in government from Notre Dame. For many years he was the staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, chaired by the late Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C.