After a settlement with the Department of Justice, the city of West Palm Beach, Florida has rescinded its sanctuary city status and will comply with requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This includes honoring I.C.E. detainers by temporarily holding criminal aliens in local detention facilities, providing I.C.E. agents with information about the location of aliens who have committed violent crimes and citizenship status of any individual.
"All personnel are reminded that you may share -- and it is consistent with City Resolution 112-17 and federal law to share -- with federal authorities, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, any and all information, including information regarding citizenship and immigration status, to which you have access or knowledge as a result of the performance of your job duties for the City of West Palm Beach regarding any individual," West Palm Beach City Attorney Kimberly Rothenburg sent to all city employees Tuesday afternoon.
West Palm Beach receives federal grant money from DOJ, which the Department threatened to withhold if the City refused to comply with immigration requests. After issuing a lawsuit against DOJ last year in protest of compliance with federal law and agreeing to a settlement with the Department, the city has reversed course.
“Since the Trump Administration sued California for their sanctuary policies, California jurisdictions are tripping over themselves to create distance from Governor Brown’s dangerous policies, and now West Palm Beach is instructing its employees to cooperate with ICE in order to avoid a loss in the courts," a senior administration official said in a statement. "It is clear that the American people support the administration’s push to protect the public from cities and states that seek to put illegal aliens who have committed crimes back on our streets rather than in the custody of federal immigration authorities.”
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According to DOJ, West Palm Beach officials have also agreed to drop their lawsuit against the Department.
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