Immigration Reform 2017: Justice Department Pressures 'Sanctuary Cities,' Threatens Aid Cuts
Washington ramped up the pressure on "sanctuary cities," jurisdictions that provide limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities on new policies introduced by President Trump's administration. The Justice Department sent out letters that threaten to reduce grant money unless they provide evidence of cooperation.
The Trump administration has sent letters to officials of places that the Justice Department's inspector general listed as providing limited information to federal immigration authorities, particularly on local law enforcement and custody records. These places include California and the major cities of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans, according to Fox News.
According to the Justice Department, "Many of these jurisdictions are also crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime," the agency said in a news release via The New York Times. As an example, the department pointed to the murder rate in Chicago, citing the rising rate at which murder incidents are occurring in the city. New York is mentioned as well among places that the agency felt has a stance that is "soft on crime."
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One of the first executive orders issued by President Trump in his first week at the White House is a directive on tougher policies and implementation aimed at illegal immigration.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned several jurisdictions that a 1996 federal law prohibits state and local authorities from preventing law enforcement from sharing information about a person's immigration status with federal authorities, so long as they receive federal law enforcement grants.
The letters sent out to state and city officials mandated that they must certify that they are compliant with the law in question by June 30 as a condition for receiving the grants. Several municipal leaders, among them New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic, said they would pursue legal measures if stripped of the funding.
