Why Chris Christie Wants to Defund Sanctuary Cities

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says the next president of the United States should make sure federal dollars don’t flow to sanctuary cities.

“Withdraw federal funding from cities that don’t or are unwilling to enforce the federal immigration law,” Christie told The Daily Signal at the RedState Gathering this weekend in Atlanta.

The issue of sanctuary cities came up at last week’s GOP debate—specifically, whether candidates would support mandatory five-year prison sentences for illegals that are deported and then come back to the United States.

There’s also been plenty of discussion about the need to defund sanctuary cities. Christie believes that stopping the flow of money is important, but he also raises the larger issue of actual law enforcement, something some sanctuary city officials clearly don’t get.

“They need to understand our laws that our federal government makes are not optional. They’re not based upon your personal preference. They are about the laws made by the people we elect to make them.”

Christie made clear that he’d love to get rid of certain laws he doesn’t like but can’t. As for President Obama, he thinks he’s playing games.

“I don’t get to pick and choose. This president picks and chooses, and we should not permit that to happen.”