By Tim Sullivan
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department identified some three dozen states, cities and counties as so-called sanctuary jurisdictions on Tuesday, two months after the federal government quietly removed a much longer list that included many localities that support the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
The earlier, typo-riddled list was met with pushback from across the political spectrum, with officials often saying it wasn’t clear why their jurisdictions were included.
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The new announcement doesn’t appear to threaten consequences beyond what the federal government is already doing.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi warned in the announcement that the department would “continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.”
“Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design,” she said.
The new list is composed overwhelmingly of Democratic jurisdictions, including states like New York, California and Connecticut, cities like Boston and New York City and a handful of counties, including Baltimore County, Maryland, and Cook County, Illinois.
There’s no clear definition of sanctuary jurisdictions, but the term is generally applied to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The administration never fully explained the errors in the first announcement, which included hundreds of jurisdictions, including places that had voted overwhelmingly for Trump and at least one that had declared itself a “non-sanctuary city.” The list was published in late May on the Department of Homeland Security’s website but within three days was replaced with a “Page Not Found” error message.
Trump officials have long warned that the federal government would go after jurisdictions that do not cooperate with the president’s plans for mass deportations. In April, Trump signed an executive order requiring Homeland Security and the attorney general to publish a list of jurisdictions they believe are obstructing federal immigration laws.
The administration has filed a series of lawsuits targeting state or city policies it says are interfering with immigration enforcement, including those in Los Angeles, New York City, Denver and Rochester, New York. It sued four New Jersey cities in May.
In late July, a judge in Illinois dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit that sought to disrupt limits Chicago imposes on cooperation between federal immigration agents and local police.
How do you feel sanctuary policies affect your ability to effectively police your community? Share your thoughts in the comment form below.
Police1 readers respond
- I work in a state that has recently filed suit against several law enforcement officers for discussing the immigration status of suspects in drug and human trafficking cases. This literally ties our hands and makes us violate our oath to support both the US Constitution, as well as our state constitution, by obeying the laws of both. On the one hand you are required to notify the federal government of a person’s immigration status, especially through involvement in a serious crime, but you would then be violating state law in a sanctuary state where the attorney general is pursuing criminal or civil charges against you. How can anyone be expected to perform their duties with that kind of hypocrisy from our lawmakers?
Full list of sanctuary judisdictions:
States, cities and counties identified as sanctuary jurisdictions
California
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Counties
- San Diego County, CA
- San Francisco County, CA
Cities
- Berkeley, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- San Francisco City, CA
Colorado
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Cities
- Denver, CO
Connecticut
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Delaware
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
District of Columbia
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Illinois
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Counties
- Cook County, IL
Cities
- Chicago, IL
Minnesota
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Nevada
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
New York
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Cities
- New York City, NY
- Rochester, NY
Oregon
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Cities
- Portland, OR
Rhode Island
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Vermont
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Washington
- State identified as a sanctuary jurisdiction
Cities
- Seattle, WA
Louisiana
Cities
- New Orleans, LA
Maryland
Counties
- Baltimore County, MD
Massachusetts
Cities
- Boston, MA
Michigan
Cities
- East Lansing, MI
New Jersey
Cities
- Hoboken, NJ
- Jersey City, NJ
- Newark, NJ
- Paterson, NJ
New Mexico
Cities
- Albuquerque, NM
Pennsylvania
Cities
- Philadelphia, PA