Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) speaks at the National Press Club on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, at the launch of a group called Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (AVIAC), which represents Americans who have lost loved ones because of the actions of illegal aliens. (Screen grab from video posted on Rep. King's website)

(CNSNews.com) – “My son is dead because politicians and local jurisdictions have put illegal aliens ahead of American citizens,” a grieving mother told a gathering at the National Press Club on Tuesday.

Maureen Maloney, whose son was killed in August 2011 by a drunken, unlicensed undocumented immigrant, was addressing parents and relatives of Americans who have been victimized by people who came to this country illegally.

“Sadly, more often than not, our legal system holds the criminal aliens less accountable than Americans, leaving families being victimized,” Maloney said. “Matthew paid the ultimate price. I am permanently separated from my son.”

She called it “outrageous” that some politicians and judges “are willing to protect the illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens.”

Maloney was speaking at the launch of a group called Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (AVIAC), which represents people like herself who have lost loved ones because of the actions of illegal aliens. The group will focus on legislation, education and public policy.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), the guest of honor at the AVIAC launch, is a longtime advocate of the rule of law:

“These families are the equivalent of Gold Star Families,” King said. “They’ve lost their loved ones because we didn’t do our job in enforcing the law.”

King said the U.S., under President Trump, is now “on the cusp” of restoring the rule of law:

“Eisenhower enforced immigration law well. Each succeeding president enforced it less and less, until we got to Barack Obama, who simply said, I have prosecutorial discretion; I’m going to decide not to enforce whole vast areas of the law, and I’m going to reward lawbreakers because what, it helps him politically? That seems to have been the equation.

“And so now this contempt for the rule of law – this demand where people come to the streets and they say, ‘I demand a path to citizenship because I want to be an American.’ Well that’s not good enough. You have to also abide by our laws. If you’re a confessed law-breaker, don’t be pressing this society for us to grant you amnesty.”

King noted that the law requires people in the country illegally to be placed in removal proceedings. But that doesn’t happen in so-called sanctuary cities, where local authorities are directed not to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Five days after taking office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on immigration, saying that sanctuary jurisdictions “have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic.”

Among other things, Trump said sanctuary jurisdictions that willfully flout immigration law would not be eligible to receive federal funds. A federal judge in California later blocked that provision, saying: “The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the President, so the (Executive) Order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds.”

But this week, the House is going to fix that problem by taking up two pieces of legislation: Kate's Law, named after Kate Steinle, the young San Francisco woman gunned down by an illegal immigrant who had been deported multiple times; and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act.

Kate's Law raises the maximum sentence for criminal aliens who illegally re-enter the United States.

The No Sanctuary for Criminals Act prohibits state and local government from implementing policies that help illegal immigrants avoid deportation by stopping the police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. It also makes jurisdictions that break this law ineligible for certain Justice Department grants and Homeland Security grants, Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) told a news conference on Tuesday.

“Cities, counties and states that refuse to cooperate with the federal agencies to enforce laws of this country should not be rewarded with taxpayer dollars intended to facilitate law and order,” Roby said. “Sanctuary cities are magnets for illegal immigrants, including some dangerous people with criminal records.”

President Trump on Wednesday morning retweeted a Fox News report about the House taking up the immigration legislation. Today (June 28) at 3 p.m., Trump is scheduled to meet with Americans who have been victimized by illegal aliens, as he urges the House to pass Kate’s Law and the No Sanctuary law.