Senate Democrats blocked consideration Tuesday of a bill designed to stop “sanctuary cities.”  

The bill to punish municipalities that don’t enforce federal immigration laws was doomed from the outset, and the Senate voted 54-45 to limit debate on taking up the measure, short of the 60 votes needed.  

“When a deputy sheriff puts her life on the line every day, is it fair to make her live in constant fear of being sued for simply trying to keep us safe. When felons enter our country illegally and repeatedly, is it fair to victims and families to not do what we can now to stop them?” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday. “The answer is that it isn’t fair.”  

Introduced by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who is running for governor, opponents decried the bill as anti-immigrant, with Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and others calling it the “Donald Trump Act.”  

Reid said Monday that, “like the disgusting and outrageous language championed by Donald Trump, this legislation paints all immigrants as ‘criminals and rapists.'”