This Week, some House Republicans introduced legislation designed to target the growing number of "sanctuary cities" across the US , reports The Washington Times.  The bill, dubbed the Accountability in Enforcing Immigration Laws Act of 2007 and written by Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), would make undocumented immigration a felony and would require ICE agents to take all violators into custody and pay state and local governments the per-diem rate to detain them until they are deported.   

"When cities proclaim they will not check immigration status, they essentially become a safe haven for not only out-of-status immigrants, but criminal aliens who have often committed violent atrocities in our country, said Mrs. Brown-Waite of her bill.  She also cites thwarted terrorist plots in New York , Germany and South Carolina as examples of anti-US efforts to inflict harm on the country.  

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Citing uncontrollable legal costs and mounting criticism, the Township Committee of Riverside, NJ has abandoned a city immigration law passed last year, according to The New York Times.  By a 3-to-1 vote, the Committee repealed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which carried fines, jail time, and business license revocations for anyone knowingly housing or employing an undocumented immigrant.  From the time it became enacted in July 2006, the town has faced numerous lawsuits from business groups and human rights advocates.  

"They did the wrong thing, and they fixed it," said Cesar Perales, president and general counsel for the Puerto Rican Defense and Education Fund, who helped the groups suing the town.  "The wrong thing was for a local government on its own try to manage and control immigration.