Atty. General Sessions warns sanctuary cities repercussions for noncompliance with the federal immigration agencies
As the immigration saga mounts in Washington, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is continuing its fight against the 23 sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with the federal government’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants whom they deem pose a threat.
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday, January 24 threatened to subpoena any sanctuary city that fails to comply with the administration in its endeavors to double down on undocumented immigrants deemed a risk to national security.
“I continue to urge all jurisdictions under review to reconsider policies that place the safety of their communities and their residents at risk,” Sessions said in a statement released on Wednesday, noting that “protecting criminal” immigrants “defies common sense and undermines the rule of law.”
In general, sanctuary cities are self-designated jurisdictions in which officials offer practical protections to undocumented immigrants. So far, 23 cities have come out as sanctuary cities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
The designation varies from city to city, but most cities, like LA, undergo city-wide efforts to make legal counsel more visible for their immigrant communities, collaborating with local legal organizations to make that happen.
Some cities, like LA and San Francisco, take it a step further and fully refuse to cooperate with federal agencies to turn over information that could lead to the detention of undocumented immigrants.
Many city officials were outraged by the threat which prompted harsh criticism from some of the nation’s prominent mayors.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, a firm advocate of sanctuary city practices, upheld his promise to stand with undocumented Angelenos and honor their rights, replying to Sessions’ memo on Twitter: “Threaten me all you want. I will stand up for every Angeleno.”
“Each one of the mayors up here cares more about the public safety of our people than anybody living outside of our cities,” Garcetti said at a press conference following the DOJ’s announcement. “There is not a single mayor in this country who says please, if you’re a criminal, come on over. And if you’re undocumented, bonus points. This is a myth, and it’s pure politics. Let’s be clear about what this is, it’s the politics of distraction and destruction.”
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called the threat another “racist assault on our immigrant communities” by the Trump administration.
“It doesn’t make us safer,” de Blasio tweeted on Wednesday. “And it violates America’s core values.”
Garcetti and de Blasio were among several of the nation’s prominent city mayors to boycott a scheduled meeting of mayors at the White House. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu also announced their condemnation.
“Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s decision to threaten mayors and demonize immigrants yet again — and use cities as political props in the process — has made this meeting untenable,” Landrieu, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said. “The U.S. Conference of Mayors is proud to be a bipartisan organization. But an attack on mayors who lead welcoming cities is an attack on everyone in our conference.”
Last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring sanctuary cities from receiving federal funds from the DOJ and the Dept. of Homeland Security. This prompted lawsuits against the administration from various sanctuary cities, including LA.
However, sanctuary city officials and advocates are likely to challenge the administration’s threat as they have several times in 2017. As previously reported by the Asian Journal, last year, federal courts in California blocked the administration’s efforts to get law enforcement to comply with the federal government.
Garcetti and the LAPD refuse to assist immigration enforcement with its campaign to crackdown on immigrants, arguing that it creates mistrust in the community.
LA boasts a vast immigrant community; approximately one in 10 residents are undocumented immigrants according to a 2013 USC study. Just last month, the LA City Council officially supported legislation that would formally categorize the city as a “city of sanctuary” in a symbolic city-wide act of defiance that would combat the administration’s move to tighten up immigration.
Furthermore, city officials have noted that aiding and abetting the federal government in these tactics is not within their abilities as local law enforcement, and that if immigration officials request information, there must be a clear justification fo0r it.
“Immigration is the responsibility of our federal government. We’ve been very clear it’s not the responsibility of the LAPD,” Garcetti told the media in January 2017. “We participate all the time with our federal immigration authorities and we will continue to do so. We just require, as the courts have decided, that there be a warrant.” (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)
