Trump budget could expand definition of 'sanctuary city'
The change in federal law would have to be approved by Congress before it could take effect.
Trump budget could expand definition of 'sanctuary city' The change in federal law would have to be approved by Congress before it could take effect. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://usat.ly/2qT4XQs
Alan Gomez, USA TODAY Published 6:02 p.m. ET May 23, 2017 | Updated 11:02 a.m. ET May 24, 2017
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces a new policy to crack down on so-called "sanctuary cities" during the daily White House press briefing on March 27, 2017.(Photo: Win McNamee, Getty Images)
The budget released by the White House on Tuesday provided the first detailed explanation of how the Trump administration wants to define a "sanctuary city."
Buried in the 1,284-page appendix to the budget is a proposed change to federal law that would require local police to hold suspects for up to 48 hours solely to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents time to investigate their immigration status. Failure to do so would allow the federal government to declare those agencies as sanctuaries and withhold millions of dollars in grants.
The administration has urged local police to honor those requests, a controversial practice known as "detainers." The proposed change for the first time would make them requirements.
"This would be a radical re-definition of immigration law," said Philip Wolgin, managing director for immigration policy at the liberal Center for American Progress. "I am deeply, deeply troubled by this change. It makes me angry."
The change would have to be approved by Congress before it would take effect.
"Sanctuary city" is a general term used to describe about 300 cities, counties, states and local law enforcement agencies that limit their cooperation with federal immigration efforts in various ways. The Trump administration has only said that a sanctuary city violates a federal law that requires local law enforcement to share basic information with federal immigration officials about suspects being held.
Local officials have asked the administration to explain what that means. Tuesday's budget finally gave them a glimpse.
Current law forbids local jurisdictions from passing laws that prohibit their employees from sharing "information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual" with ICE.
The Trump budget proposes expanding that to require local officials to share "nationality, citizenship, immigration status, removability, scheduled release date and time, home address, work address, or contact information" of each suspect in its jails.
AG Jeff Sessions demands proof 'sanctuary cities' complying with immigration law
Federal judge blocks Trump plan to punish 'sanctuary cities'
A multimillion-dollar question: What's a 'sanctuary city?'
A second proposed change deals with the detainers. Trump has argued that too many local police departments are releasing dangerous undocumented immigrants into communities. Trump often referred to the 2015 case of Kate Steinle, who was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant who had been released by the San Francisco Sheriff's Department three months earlier.
Many local agencies argue they cannot legally detain people for a federal agency solely on suspicion they may be in the country illegally. If ICE agents want to investigate the immigration status of a person, they should arrest and detain the person, the local agencies say. Or ICE should issue an official finding of probable cause, or a judicial order, to detain the suspect.
Several courts have sided with the local jurisdictions, ruling that detainers constitute a request, not a legal order. Some local agencies have been forced to pay suspects detained on behalf of ICE for violating their due process rights. And the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled in 2014 that local police departments are not required to hold undocumented immigrants for ICE.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said his city is not a sanctuary city, but could be declared one under the proposed changes in Trump's budget. He said the change would "conscript state and local police officers" into federal immigration enforcement.
"Rather than attacking cities and law enforcement, and demonizing immigrants, now is the time for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform and invest in police and other resources mayors need to keep our streets safe," Landrieu said.
The proposed change came after Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum Monday saying only Justice Department and Homeland Security grants could be withheld from local jurisdictions deemed sanctuaries. A federal judge in California ruled last month that the administration could not withhold all federal grants from sanctuary cities.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2qT4XQs