Within his first full week of office, President Trump can say he accomplished much. In fact (not alternative), The White House website exclaims about how on Wednesday, “President Trump followed through on his pledge to protect America’s borders and end the lack of compliance with immigration laws.” This included an executive order that ceased federal funding for sanctuary jurisdictions or sanctuary cities.
Executive Summary
Sanctuary jurisdictions include territories from cities to states that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation, by curbing cooperation of local law enforcement with federal authorities. This can be practiced by not sharing individuals’ immigration status or local jails not honoring “detainer” requests, which is when ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) asks a jail to hold someone they suspect is unauthorized a couple days more, so that they may pick them up. Cutting funding is not only an unconstitutional attack on immigrants who are still trying to build a life, but an unconstitutional attack on local/state rights.
Introduction
The issue of sanctuary cities bears importance as the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, mentioned in a speech of comfort to his city two days after Trump’s election, “We are not going to sacrifice a half-million people who live amongst us, who are part of our communities, whose family members and loved ones happen to be people in many cases who are either permanent residents or citizens—we’re not going to tear families apart.” This funding cut, along with the threats of deportation in general, could affect many major metropolitan areas in the U.S, including their departments other than law enforcement, like social services. It brings up questions of trust in our communities, along with questions of what is the actual law and can it be interpreted differently.
Approaches and Results
Trump says that sanctuary cities violate a 1996 law of 8 U.S. Code § 1373 that says local/state/Federal officials may not prohibit government officials from sending to or receiving from the the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual. However, Barry Friedman, a constitutional law scholar at NYU reminds us of the Tenth Amendment, which says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” So states do not have to share that information. States or cities can also ask their police not to ask immigration status questions in the first place, so there is no information to share. Reasons for not asking include lessening fear of deportation for immigrants so that they still seek healthcare and enroll in school. The issue shot back into an ugly light though in July of 2016, when a young woman in San Francisco was shot by a undocumented man who had seven felony convictions and had been deported from the U.S five times.
Conclusion
The aforementioned case is one of some being used to paint a large demographic garishly and stands in contrast to the many in the jail system for lower level crimes, ignoring the context of over-representation of people of color in the criminal justice system compared to representation in the U.S. population, along with the greater need for cities to provide social services that could be preventative. It would make more sense for the administration to address specifically the issue of law enforcement, than risk disaster cutting all funding and sweeping threats.
Implications and Recommendations
There is a responsibility in us as Americans to listen the inscription on the Statue of Liberty at Ellis Island and give rest to our “tired” and our “poor”, our “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Find out what different sanctuary cities are at cis.org/Sanctuary-Cities-Map. Donate to agencies supporting those governments’ funds in these uncertain times and call local legislators and congressmen to let them know you support the local support of our communities, along with asking how you can support the cause further.