Remove strings on public safety grants

States and cities should not be punished by the federal government for operating with compassion. But once again, the federal Justice Department is threatening to withhold public safety grants to states that do not routinely hold undocumented immigrants, who haven’t committed felonies, for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The renewed Justice Department action comes despite several federal judges issuing injunctions last year over the grant conditions.

For Connecticut, this means about $1.7 million a year, and another $1 million for cities in the state that apply for these grants separately. The money, distributed by the state to local municipalities, is used for narcotics enforcement, substance abuse treatment and opioid intervention projects.

Every year since 1988 when Congress created the Byrne Formula Grant program, authorized by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, the grants have supplemented local public safety efforts. But in 2017 the Trump Justice Department tried to put strings on the grants.

Applicants had to certify they allow immigration agents to access prisons, they give advance notice when prisoners wanted on an ICE detainer are being released, and they comply with a federal law that says

states and municipalities can’t stop officials from communicating with immigration authorities about citizenship status.

Connecticut rightly joined a lawsuit brought by New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington, arguing the restrictions violate federal law and put municipalities at risk. Separately, six cities in the state, including Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk, joined a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the city of Evanston, Ill.

The legal argument is that the Trump Justice Department conditions are unconstitutional because Congress had authorized the grants without limitations.

We would argue that the restrictions are pure retaliation for states and cities that dare treat undocumented immigrants with the fairness afforded others.

With the Trust Act adopted in 2013, Connecticut allows law enforcement officials to refrain from holding undocumented people for immigration officials if they have not committed a serious felony. Also, police are not to question the immigration status of people not involved in serious criminal activity.

Though some might see this state law as flouting federal directives, we see it as a practical and tolerant policy that lends stability to community life. The threat of getting turned over to an ICE agent for simply showing up in court on a minor charge, for example, could deter someone without documentation from cooperating and others from reporting. Undocumented residents are here and shouldn’t be pushed out of the system and into the shadows.

Their fear is not unfounded. Too many times recently ICE has deported longtime residents and broken up families over minor immigration offenses.

Lest anyone think the Justice Department restrictions on law enforcement grants are not political, consider that this month President Donald Trump threatened to bus people, who are trying to enter the United States illegally from Mexico, to sanctuary cities.

We appreciate New Haven Mayor Toni Harp’s response: “New Haven will continue its open arms tradition for those fleeing oppression in other countries and for those who seek a better life here.”

The restrictions are pure retaliation for states and cities that dare treat undocumented immigrants with the fairness afforded others.