La Crosse mayor reaffirms commitment to not enforcement of federal immigration law

It hasn’t happened yet.

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat hasn’t buckled in his defiance to enforce federal immigration laws.

Kabat, in the WIZM studio Tuesday afternoon, said respect, human dignity and the Constitution are still his top considerations of mandates from Washington about enforcing immigration laws.

“My personal view is we have a Constitution, and the Fifth (sic) Amendment talks about unreasonable searches and seizures,” Kabat said. “We should be upholding the Constitution and I’ve sworn an oath to do that.”

Available resources, however, are part of the conversation, too.

“We have an excellent police department,” Kabat said. “They have so many demands on them. To think that there are folk that want them to force federal immigration law. It’s just not going to happen.”

Kabat was among those closely watching a proposal in front of lawmakers in Madison that would have fined so-called sanctuary cities. The bill was suddenly tabled before a vote by Wisconsin’s Assembly earlier this month.

The mayor added that despite bluster about sanctuary cities and how they should be punished from Washington and Madison, he has yet to get a solid definition of what exactly a sanctuary city is.