· Missoulian · By Holly Michels · From the Border Crossing Law Firm media archive.
The Missoulian reports on House Bill 611, a proposal to ban sanctuary policies and impose severe financial penalties on Montana local governments, even though none had adopted such a policy. Shahid Haque argues that making local police enforce federal immigration law would erode community trust, discourage victims and witnesses from reporting crimes, and ultimately make the public less safe.
The bill brought national Trump-era sanctuary-city politics into the 2017 Montana Legislature without an existing state problem to solve. Shahid's opposition focused on practical policing: local safety depends on immigrant residents being able to contact law enforcement without fearing deportation.