U.S. Senate legislation that would defund so-called “sanctuary cities” failed to advance, and House Democrats, prominently minority lawmakers, celebrated the bill’s defeat.

The "Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act" (S. 2146), would have reprimanded U.S. cities and jurisdictions for not following with federal law enforcement in regards to a detained undocumented immigrant. The bill, introduced by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., would limit or block federal grants to those jurisdictions, often referred to as "sanctuary cities," and implement a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in jail, and no more than 20 years, for undocumented immigrants who re-enter the U.S. and were previously convicted of a crime.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate voted 54 to 45 to try to advance the bill. S. 2146, however, needed 60 votes to advance, therefore, the bill was blocked. Two Democrats did vote in favor of S. 2146, Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

S. 2146 was also co-sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the Republican presidential candidates. Rubio has been criticized for his support of the bill but also for missing dozens of Senate votes. The eyes were set if Rubio would appear; he did and voted in favor of Vitter's bill.

During a press call, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Democrat for California's 34th Congressional District, criticized Rubio's appearance at a "political" vote.

"People have to question, 'What drives you and why are you doing this? Especially when you flip flop from positions in the past on immigration," said Becerra about Rubio. "Being AWOL a third of the time for your work, as Marco Rubio said, should get you fired."

Becerra referenced a statement Rubio made following the S. 2146 vote. Rubio spoke in regards to a separate bill about government employees, namely the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), who don't do their jobs.

"All we're saying in this bill is if you work at the V.A., and you aren't doing your job, they get to fire you," said Rubio. "I think people are shocked that that [doesn't] actually exist in the entire government, since there is really no other job in the country where if you don't do your job, you don't get fired."

"In this instance, we're just limiting it to one agency. This should actually be the rule in the entire government," Rubio added.

Similar to Rubio, Becerra is the son of immigrants. The California congressman said Rubio's political vote runs contrary to the senator's previous work. In 2013, Rubio was an original co-sponsor of the Senate's bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act" (S.744). The bill passed the Senate, but it was never picked up for debate in the House of Representatives. Since 2013, Rubio changed his tone on S. 744 and said reforms should be worked through separate pieces of legislation, rather than a comprehensive approach.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, Democrat for Arizona's 3rd Congressional District, said sanctuary city policies help undocumented immigrants come forward and help local law enforcement about crimes without fearing about their legal status.

"All sanctuary cities are doing is allowing victims of domestic violence, witnesses to crime, violence in the streets to come forward and report ... with the key assurance that their immigration status will not condemn them," said Grijalva, who referred S. 2146 as "Donald Trump inspired."

Grijalva added that sanctuary cities are needed. The congressman said it is a necessary and temporary fix to larger immigration issues, just like President Barack Obama's deferred action programs -- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability -- are "necessary but temporary fixes to a system that is broken [and] needs attention."

Prior to Tuesday's vote, Vitter said sanctuary cities, and crimes by immigrants "are reaching a critical point" and requires Congress to act.

"There is simply no incentive for these localities to enforce current immigration laws, and my legislation will make sure sanctuary cities are no longer rewarded for their failures to uphold the law," Vitter said in a statement.

Vitter acknowledged the death of the death of Kathryn Steinle by an undocumented immigrant, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who was deported from the U.S. on five occasions due to drug-related felonies. The Louisiana senator had called on his fellow senators to vote in honor of Steinle and against the "tens of thousands of crimes committed by illegal immigrants within our borders."

Fellow Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was an original co-sponsor of S. 2146, and voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday. Absent from the vote was another Republican presidential candidate: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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