Every once in a while somebody comes along with a solution that makes you smack yourself on the forehead and say, why didn’t I think of that? We’ve now seen such a piece of innovative thinking coming out of North Carolina where Governor Pat McCrory has just signed a new bill into law which will effectively outlaw the idea of so called “sanctuary cities” in his state. One down, 49 to go. (Fox News)

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill into law Wednesday that bans any policy that interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

The Protect N.C. Workers Act, HB 318, reins in local and municipal policies that disregarded federal law by providing sanctuary or “safe” cities, and public benefits like food stamps, for individuals illegally in the U.S.

“We cannot allow our local officials in towns and cities in North Carolina to make up their own rules that conflict with our nation’s laws and our nation’s values,” the governor stated during the bill signing.

First of all, the fact that there was even a need for a law such as this demonstrates just how far off the beam we’ve gone as a country. The actions of several liberal enclaves around the nation and the permissive attitude of the White House toward them has brought us to the point where a state had to pass a law saying, in essence, that it’s against the law to break the law. That is, quite frankly, insane. If we had a hand on the tiller in Washington which wasn’t willing to effectively hamstring the immigration services by turning a blind eye to states and cities which choose to flaunt the law, none of this would be needed. It should be accepted procedure for governments at every level in the nation to understand that they don’t exercise a veto option on border security… one of the few areas where the federal government does have a constitutional claim to supremacy.

The law has a few other goodies in it as well. Not only can’t a municipality agree to shirk their responsibility in assisting immigration enforcement, it beefs up disincentives to be in North Carolina illegally. Public contractors are required to verify any employee’s right to work in the United States through the E-Verify system. This moves the onus back to employers to ensure that they aren’t providing income to illegals, making North Carolina a much less tempting destination for fence jumpers. None of this is rocket science… it’s just following through on what should already be common sense in terms of law enforcement philosophy.

Here’s a thought. There has already been discussion in Congress about the possibility of cutting funding to cities which engage in these lawless policies. What say we go ahead and do that but redirect the funding to states which pass laws such as this? That way it turns out to be a wash in terms of the budget deficit but the taxpayers’ money actually goes to places which are fighting crimes and solving actual problems. It might provide some incentive for others to follow suit until everyone is on board and the federal funding returns the the previous balance.