The Department of Justice has demanded that 23 jurisdictions in the U.S. provide documents that would show whether they are withholding information on illegal immigrants from the department.
Federal statute 8 U.S.C. 1373 promotes information sharing related to immigration enforcement and with which compliance is a condition of FY2016 and FY2017 Byrne JAG awards.. “I continue to urge all jurisdictions under review to reconsider policies that place the safety of their communities and their residents at risk,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “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.”
This is the latest volley between the Trump administration and “sanctuary cities,” cities that limit cooperation with federal officials trying to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. In response to the requests, several mayors pulled out of a Wednesday White House meeting with the president on infrastructure.
“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,” tweeted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The following jurisdictions received the document request:
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; and
State of Oregon.
