U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, has been a frequent, long-standing opponent of America’s immigration policy, warning about the crisis at the southern border with Mexico, sponsoring a bill that would restrict federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities,” and sharply criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of refugees from Afghanistan.

However, Rosendale’s office refused to respond or speak to the Daily Montanan about his position as President Joe Biden announced that as many as 100,000 Ukrainian refugees would be accepted by the United States.

As of publication, Rosendale has not issued a statement about the situation, and email requests this week and last week for comments or policy clarifications have gone unanswered.

In February, Rosendale chided the Biden administration after a Department of Defense Inspector General issued a report that found that Afghan nations may not have been properly vetted and could pose “potentially significant security concerns.”

“Dangerous Afghan nationals now freely roam our country, completely unaccounted for – American citizens are in danger because of this administration’s neglect and incompetence. These Afghans must be removed from the United States immediately.”

Previously, Rosendale said that the fall of Afghanistan to Taliban forces did not justify a wave of evacuees.

In Oct. 2021, he introduced the SECURE America Act to “protect America from unvetted refugees.” Rosendale did not say if he had the same concerns about Ukrainian refugees.

Rosendale has also taken a stand on “sanctuary cities,” by proposing legislation that would amend the tax code to eliminate the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds. Those cities are the ones that offer some modicum of protection to undocumented immigrants or visitors.

“My hope is that the bill will be another tool in the toolkit to deter these dangerous policies nationwide by creating a financial disincentive for sanctuary cities. Immigration is a national issue that affects all of us, and individual municipalities cannot be allowed to continue to make up their own policies in an area constitutionally reserved for Congress,” Rosendale said.

In 2021, when Rosendale proposed that legislation, there were 180 cities and counties that had a sanctuary designation.

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