It was only around a week ago when a judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing funds from being pulled from “sanctuary cities” in the U.S., President Donald Trump issued an executive order regarding those municipalities.
Per the Vera Institute for Justice, there is no official definition for sanctuary cities. However, the term generally refers to jurisdictions “that prioritize the safety and well-being of all residents by limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities,” the organization explained.
In the executive order Trump issued this week, it said that “within 30 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall publish a list of States and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws (sanctuary jurisdictions)” and that each jurisdiction will be notified of its defiance.
Major cities throughout the nation have been declared as sanctuary cities, including Los Angeles, Calif.; New York, N.Y.; Chicago, Ill.; Philadelphia, Pa. and Portland, Ore. Some leaders in these cities have already vowed not to comply with the Trump administrations crackdown on immigration, including Portland Mayor Keith Wilson.
Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) issued a statement in reaction to Trump’s executive order regarding the Denver, Colorado’s most populous city.
“Just this week, Trump took executive action threatening to strip federal funds from sanctuary cities like ours that refuse to be complicit in his callous immigration agenda,” DeGette said. “Denver is a proud, welcoming city, where we comply with the law and show compassion to our neighbors. In contrast, these latest executive actions are a continuation of Trump’s cruel campaign to stoke fear and division in our community, while shamefully targeting immigrants.”
Naureen Shah, director of government affairs for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Equality Division called president’s recent moves “just the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s shakedown of cities, states, and elected officials that refuse to offer up local resources for the administration’s mass deportation and detention agenda.” She said that states have a right to decide how to use local resources. The ACLU noted that Trump actually recently signed two executive orders that could impact sanctuary cities.
In a piece published by The Conversation, Temple University associate law professor Jennifer J. Lee noted that “federal immigration officers – usually U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – can still carry out deportations in a sanctuary city,” regarding the agency known as ICE. Still, she also said that “there is no question that localities such as Philadelphia can legally decide not to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement,” since cities and states have constitutional protections against being forced to administer or enforce federal programs.
Basically, that means that the Trump administration can’t force the local jurisdictions to comply with its federal law. At the same time, experts have noted that Trump seems to be pushing the limits of what he is able to do under the Constitution during his second term in office. Though a judge has already said the administration can’t withhold funds, the new administration has demonstrated a wilingness to go against such decisions.