Sessions threatens sanctuary city funds
Mayor says Santa Fe in compliance with all federal laws, does not anticipate losing money
Attorney General Jeff Sessions took aim at so-called sanctuary cities Monday, instructing them to comply with the nation’s immigration laws if they wish to receive funds from the Justice Department and warning that his agency would claw back dollars that have been distributed to jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials.
Last week, the city of Santa Fe, which first adopted a policy in 1999 against using city resources to help enforce federal immigration laws, joined a nationwide coalition of cities and counties seeking a court order to bar the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions.
Sessions, making a surprise appearance before reporters Monday at the White House, said he expected to distribute $4.1 billion in law enforcement grants through Department of Justice programs this year, but he said no money would go to cities employing sanctuary policies.
To receive grants, local jurisdictions would have to demonstrate compliance with a U.S. law that prohibits them from restricting access by federal immigration officials to information about an individual’s immigration status or citizenship, Sessions said.
The Obama administration issued a similar compliance requirement last summer, Sessions said.
“DUIs, assaults, burglaries, drug crimes, gang rapes, crimes against children, and murderers — countless Americans would be alive today and countless loved ones would not be grieving today if these policies of sanctuary cities were ended,” Sessions said in prepared remarks.
He added, “I strongly urge our nation’s states and cities and counties to consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to
enforce our immigration laws, and to rethink these policies.”
Mayor Javier Gonzales said the city was in compliance with all federal laws and that he does not anticipate the city losing any federal funds.
“We don’t prohibit [information sharing] at all, but we don’t collect it either,” Gonzales said, referencing the federal law Sessions specified. “There is nothing, really, that we have that they would want.”
It was unclear after Sessions’ remarks whether the Trump administration would move to withdraw other federal agencies’ funds from sanctuary cities or issue additional compliance measures for Department of Justice grant recipients.
The city of Santa Fe received $212,597 in law enforcement grants from the Department of Justice in the fiscal year ended last June, roughly 4 percent of the $5.2 million in federal awards received by the city in that period. Federal funds make up roughly 2 percent of the city’s total budget.
Police Chief Patrick Gallagher said federal funds have helped the department purchase body cameras in recent years. Gallagher said the potential loss of the funds remained a fluid situation, describing the Trump administration’s recurring threats as a sort of chess match.
“They make a move, then what’s our next move?” Gallagher said. “Pretty much since the beginning, since the election, that’s been our position: Wait and see exactly how it shakes out and then determine what our response will be.
“But any time there’s a reduction in grants and funding, even $20,000, it’s a concern,” Gallagher added. “We’ve got to make it up somewhere.”
Gonzales has stepped forward as a vocal advocate of sanctuary city policies, making appearances on national television and radio. On Monday, he described the Trump administration’s continued antagonism of sanctuary cities as ineffectual political theater that serves only to excite President Donald Trump’s base of supporters and cultivate fear in immigrant communities.
“It’s unfortunate that this president is using these tactics when there is a better path that we, as mayors, have argued for: Create reform in the immigration system that allows for documentation to take place and to really work with local governments to secure the borders by going after people who want to commit harm in our communities and keeping them out,” Gonzales said.
Gov. Susana Martinez signed an executive order in 2011 that required state law enforcement officers to inquire about a criminal suspect’s immigration status and report relevant information to federal immigration authorities. More recently, Martinez ordered state prisons to work with federal authorities on checking the immigration status of inmates.
“[Martinez] has directed executive agencies under her control to cooperate with ICE, and encourages local governments to do the same, in the interest of public safety,” Martinez spokesman Michael Lonergan said.
Trump made immigration a central focus of his campaign and signaled early on that his administration would prioritize the deportation of immigrants residing in the country illegally.
Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order that outlined his administration’s intent to withhold federal funds from jurisdictions that do not comply with federal immigration law enforcement efforts.
Last Wednesday, Santa Fe, along with a coalition of almost three dozen cities and counties, filed an amicus brief in support of a California county’s lawsuit seeking a nationwide halt to Trump’s executive order.
The amicus brief asks a federal judge to rule on behalf of Santa Clara County, Calif., which has filed suit arguing that Trump’s order is unconstitutional as it impedes the independence of local governments.
Santa Fe was the only New Mexico city or county to sign on to the brief. Other signers include Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, New Orleans and Berkeley, Calif., which in 1971 became the first city government to pass a sanctuary resolution.
Last month, the Santa Fe City Council unanimously approved a resolution that reaffirmed Santa Fe’s status as a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees.