Keystone Today

Pennsylvania's Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz is up against Democrat candidate John Fetterman in the November U.S. Senate race. A member from Oz's campaign recently echoed what Fetterman himself has expressed to the public – his values, support for sanctuary cities and soft approach to crime and border security are in line with those of socialist Bernie Sanders.

“Pennsylvania cannot afford to elect another Bernie Sanders socialist like John Fetterman, who is afraid to publicly answer for his radical views like advocating for sanctuary cities, releasing one-third of Pennsylvania inmates back on our streets and decriminalizing all drugs," Oz's campaign  communications director Brittany Yanick told Keystone Today.

Oz was unanimously endorsed by the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police, "because he will ensure our law enforcement officials have the tools and resources they need to keep our communities safe and prevent dangerous drugs from flooding onto our streets," Yanick said.

While speaking at West Chester University in January 2016, Fetterman made the claim, "Sanctuary cities is another policy that I very much support. Sanctuary cities statistically makes everybody safer, makes everybody better."

According to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Fetterman can be heard in a video saying, “What Bernie wants to do for the United States, I want to do here in Pennsylvania.”

The state of Pennsylvania currently has 17 sanctuary cities and counties. Each sanctuary city operates with its own paperwork and detainment requirements and policies. The state's top three  most-populated counties – Philadelphia, Allegheny and Montgomery – are on this list.

Biden administration officials announced Monday that over the past 11 months, U.S. authorities have made more than two million immigration arrests along the southern border. This marks the first time annual enforcement statistics have exceeded that threshold. In addition, the latest figures show U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained 203,598 migrants attempting to cross over from Mexico in August alone. This puts authorities on pace to reach more than 2.3 million arrests during the government’s 2022 fiscal year, which ends Friday.

According to apsanlaw.com, sanctuary cities in the United States follow certain police procedures that shelters immigrants in the country illegally. The term "sanctuary city" is most commonly used for cities that do not permit municipal funds or resources to be applied in federal immigration law enforcement.

According to his campaign website, Oz is strong on crime and border security, and has earned an endorsement from the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police.