Trump threatens federal funding over sanctuary city designations

"President Donald Trump said Tuesday that starting Feb. 1 he will deny federal funding to any states that are home to local governments resisting his administration's immigration policies, expanding on previous threats to cut off resources to the so-called sanctuary cities themselves. Such an action could have far-reaching impacts across the U.S., potentially even in places that aren't particularly friendly to noncitizens."

"Two previous efforts by Trump to cut off some funding for sanctuary jurisdictions were shut down by courts. Trump unveiled the concept this time late in a speech Tuesday at the Detroit Economic Club, without offering specifics. Starting Feb. 1, we're not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities, because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens and it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come, he said."

"There is no strict definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describe limited cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Courts have rejected the idea before In an executive orders last year, the president directed federal officials to withhold money from sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to shield people in the country illegally from deportation. A California-based federal judge struck it down despite government lawyers saying it was too early to stop the plan when no action had been taken"

President Donald Trump announced that beginning Feb. 1 the federal government will withhold payments to states that host local governments labeled as sanctuary jurisdictions. The announcement expanded prior threats to cut funds to sanctuary cities themselves and offered no detailed list of affected programs. Trump characterized sanctuary policies as protecting criminals and contributing to fraud and crime, and he said affected funding would be significant. Federal courts previously blocked two attempts to withhold funding, including a 2017 effort and a more recent executive order struck down by a California judge. The Justice Department has published a list of about three dozen jurisdictions tied to sanctuary policies.

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