The Department of Justice sent a series of letters to the leaders of 23 sanctuary cities and states Wednesday afternoon, reminding officials they must comply with producing requested documents or be subpoenaed. They're also at risk of losing grant funding for local law enforcement.
"These materials are critical to our ongoing review. Should the Department determine your jurisdiction is out of compliance with section 1373, the Department may, as detailed in the disparate jurisdiction award documents, seek return of your FY 2016 subgrant funds, require additional conditions for receipt of any FY 2017 Byrne JAG subgrant funding for which you may have applied, and/or deem you ineligible for FY 2017 Byrne JAG subgrant funds," Bureau of Justice Assistance Director Jon Adler wrote.
The documents in question require local officials to prove whether or not they are complying with federal immigration law. The jurisdictions were orignially contacted by DOJ in April 2017, when the information was originally requested. Here is the list:
-Chicago, Illinois
-Cook County, Illinois
-New York City, New York
-State of California
-Albany, New York
-Berkeley, California
-Bernalillo County, New Mexico
-Burlington, Vermont
-City and County of Denver, Colorado
-Fremont, California
-Jackson, Mississippi
-King County, Washington
-Lawrence, Massachusetts
-City of Los Angeles, California
-Louisville Metro, Kentucky
-Monterey County, California
-Sacramento County, California
-City and County of San Francisco, California
-Sonoma County, California
-Watsonville, California
-West Palm Beach, Florida
-State of Illinois
-State of Oregon
“I continue to urge all jurisdictions under review to reconsider policies that place the safety of their communities and their residents at risk,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said about the letters. “Protecting criminal aliens from federal immigration authorities defies common sense and undermines the rule of law. We have seen too many examples of the threat to public safety represented by jurisdictions that actively thwart the federal government’s immigration enforcement—enough is enough.”
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DOJ Spokeswoman Sarah Flores discussed the issue on Fox and Friends Wednesday morning.
“If [DOJ] finds out you’re not complying with federal law [on illegal immigration] we’re taking the tax dollars back” -@SarahFloresDOJ pic.twitter.com/5k56IzBQIL
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 24, 2018
Meanwhile, a number of sanctuary city majors were invited to the White House for a meeting with President Trump on Wednesday. They are boycotting and refusing to attend.
I will NOT be attending today’s meeting at the White House after @realDonaldTrump’s Department of Justice decided to renew their racist assault on our immigrant communities. It doesn’t make us safer and it violates America’s core values.
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) January 24, 2018
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