José E. Serrano: “this may be one of those classic moments where we are dealing with something that really isn't broken. The fact of life…”

“this may be one of those classic moments where we are dealing with something that really isn't broken. The fact of life is that everybody at every local government and in every locality throughout this country knows what the law is and knows how to react to that law. People are not withholding information from the Federal Government. What happens, however, on many occasions, is that local communities will make a statement, and basically it is a statement in many cases, in most cases, saying that that area is a sanctuary, meaning that they look at the immigration issue differently than you may in other parts of the country. But it doesn't mean that they flaunt the law, that they laugh at the law, that they will not participate. I assure you that in the case of New York City, where the scene of the crime took place on September 11, no one in that city government, no one in that State government, is interested in doing anything else but complying with every law that will help us secure our borders and protect our city. But we in that city look at immigration different than other people in other parts of the country, perhaps. We don't see immigrants as a problem to society that we have to somehow create a problem for them.”