Threat to city funds remote

Trump’s ‘sanctuary cities’ order does not appear to apply here

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s plan to cut off federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions will be difficult to impose on Baltimore — a city that has sought to distinguish itself, and increase its population, with immigrant-friendly policies — according to several legal analysts who have reviewed the city’s procedures.

Trump signed an executive order five days after his inauguration that he said “cracks down on sanctuary cities” that try to shield some immigrants in the country illegally from deportation. Such policies have angered Republican lawmakers and others, who say they flout federal immigration law.

But the term “sanctuary city” has no legal definition, and a growing body of court precedent has left Trump with little room to force local governments to change, experts said.

Hundreds of cities and counties that have adopted or are considering measures to help undocumented immigrants are watching closely to see how the Trump administration enforces the order.

Maryland’s General Assembly is debating a bill that would create statewide protections for immigrants.

The Democratic-led Howard County Council approved a measure this month to

prohibit local police from enforcing federal immigration laws.

County Executive Allan Kittleman, a Republican, vetoed it.

Trump’s order, which played into both of those debates, has set off a flurry of legal reviews in Maryland as state and local officials assessed their policies. Those reviews — including one by the state attorney general — have so far not prompted any revisions.

Philip L. Torrey, the supervising attorney at the Harvard Immigration Project, looked at the city’s policies at the request of The Baltimore Sun.

“I don’t see anything in the Baltimore policy that would violate statute and give the president grounds to pull funding,” he said.

Christopher Lasch, a University of Denver law professor who studies immigration, agreed.

“It seems fairly clear that the kinds of actions that are being taken in Maryland are not anywhere near ... violations” of the law cited in Trump’s order.

Trump vowed repeatedly during his campaign to pressure sanctuary cities as president, and so his Jan. 25 executive order was not a surprise.

Its language was also familiar: The order was similar to legislation approved by the Republican-led House in 2015 in response to the death of Kathryn Steinle.

Steinle was shot to death on a San Francisco pier on July 1, 2015. The suspect, an undocumented immigrant, had been released from a local jail despite a request from federal immigration agents to hold him.

But presidents have limited authority to tell a local police department what to do, and it is Congress that generally sets the terms by which state and local governments receive federal funding.

Several Republican lawmakers have picked up on the issue and are advocating for new legislation now that Trump is president.

Rep. Andy Haris has crafted a bill to yank funding from college campuses that refuse to cooperate with immigration agents.

“Anyone who says that they are not going to follow federal immigration law and then turns around and wants the federal government to pay for roads, bridges ... I just think that’s pretty hypocritical,” the Baltimore County Republican said.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, disagreed that the order would not have an impact on Baltimore.

She noted that some of its provisions are not yet fully defined.

“It does a number of things that turn up the heat on sanctuaries,” Vaughan said. “They’re looking at any policy that prevents Homeland Security authority to designate any jurisdiction as a sanctuary “to the extent consistent with law.”

Because there is no law on the issue, it is not clear what that means.

“That is a question we are all asking,” said Graber, of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for information.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said officials are “working to implement the president’s executive orders,” and “when we have more information to share about how sanctuary jurisdictions will be determined, we will.”

During a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border this month, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said he had “no idea” how to define the term sanctuary city, according to news reports.

He told a San Diego official that the department would “work with you and will make no Draconian moves until I fully understand what a given locale might be doing or not doing.”