AG threatens to pull funds from sanctuary cities

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday warned of serious consequences for cities that knowingly refuse to detain undocumented immigrants, saying they could lose federal funding for failing to cooperate with immigration authorities.

“The Department of Justice will also take all lawful steps to claw-back any funds awarded to a jurisdiction that wilfully violates (the relevant section)... In the current fiscal year, department’s... anticipate awarding more than $4.1 billion dollars in grants,” Sessions told reporters at a White House news conference.

Sessions said cities that knowingly refuse to detain undocumented immigrants who are “known felons under federal detainer requests” will face consequences from Department of Justice.

“I urge our nation’s states and cities to consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws, and to re-think these policies. Such policies make their cities and states less safe, and put them at risk of losing valuable federal dollars,” he said, making his first appearance in the White House briefing room after becoming the Attorney General.

Sessions cited guidance issued under the Obama administration about how law enforcement officials should handle undocumented immigrants with criminal histories in his description of the Trump administration’s priorities for deportations.

“What I’m saying today is that essentially the policies of the Obama administration that were issued last July make clear that you should not be receiving certain federal funds if you’re not in compliance with (Section) 1373,” he said in response to a question.

“We believe that grants in the future could be issued that have additional requirements, as every grant that’s being issued in America today usually has a requirement that if you qualify for this grant, you have to meet certain requirements,” he said.

PTI