California is suing the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions due to the DOJ's new policy that withholds federal JAG grants to cities that will not work with immigration officials. California will be joined by the city of San Francisco, which has had a "sanctuary city" policy on the books for decades. Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions' new policy, cities would not receive grants that are typically used for body armor and other police accessories unless they allow ICE officials into jails. Sanctuary cities, by default, do not permit this.
BREAKING: San Francisco sues Department of Justice over conditions placed on grant funding due to sanctuary city policy - court filing pic.twitter.com/5sQPGOiQ3u
— Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) August 14, 2017
According to California's Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the state receives about $28 million per year in this kind of funding, and he considers this new policy to be "bullying." Another San Francisco official said that it's not the role of the police to "(break) up heardworking families."
Becerra said that he thinks it's a "low blow" for police officers for the federal government to threaten to withhold funding.
“It’s a low blow to our men and women who wear the badge, for the federal government to threaten their crime-fighting resources in order to force them to do the work of the federal government when it comes to immigration enforcement,” the attorney general said at a San Francisco news conference.
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Chicago is also suing over this new policy.
Conversely, Miami dropped its sanctuary city policies and will now be eligible for grants.
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