Rahm Scoffs At AG Sessions, Pledges To Keep Chicago A 'Welcoming City' For Immigrants
By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 28, 2017 3:20PM
Rahm Emanuel / Getty Images / Photo: Scott Olson
Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushed back against the Trump administration's latest move to pressure so-called sanctuary cities, like Chicago, into abandoning those policies. After Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatened on Monday to cut off grants from the Department of Justice to cities that don't share information with immigration agencies, Emanuel said, I've always seen Chicago as a welcoming city,” Emanuel said, vowing to keep it that way.
"In the city of Chicago, like New York, like Boston, like Philadelphia, like San Francisco, like Seattle, we welcome people to our cities from other shores who want to innovate, want to be entrepreneurs, who want to bring their families and give their children the chance at the American dream," Emanuel said in an interview on CNBC. Emanuel was speaking from the Nasaq stock exchange, where he rang the closing bell with Chicago Innovation Awards honorees.
Emanuel added, "It welcomed my grandfather 100 years ago, we continue to welcome entrepreneurs, immigrants, and I would just say think of it this way: Half the new businesses in Chicago and the state of Illinois come from immigrants, nearly half. Half the patents at the University of Illinois come from immigrants, and so we want to continue to welcome people, welcome their ideas, welcome their families to the city of Chicago, who want to build the American dream for their children and their grandchildren."
According to the latest number crunch from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, Chicago received roughly $24.5 million from the Justice Department this fiscal year, which funded Chicago police programs, the COPS Hiring initiative and bodycam grants. "Not all of this money may be immediately threatened, however," the CTBA wrote. "Some grant programs, like COPS, are subject to Congressional appropriation, and may therefore require Congressional action to change."
One federal policy in particular, which involves forcing cities to use detainer orders, could also be a legal ball of wax. Detainers are notices sent from ICE to local law enforcement asking that an individual be held for an additional 48 hours beyond the time he or she would be released. Several municipalities have turned their backs on detainer requests for fear of exposing themselves to civil liability.
Sessions spoke at the White House briefing room on Tuesday, echoing a previous executive order from President Trump that called for defunding of sanctuary cities. "I urge the nation's states and cities to carefully consider the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws," Sessions said, according to the New York Times.
The back-and-forth comes at a time when Emanuel and Supt. Eddie Johnson have now both spoken with the Trump administration about securing federal resources to help combat Chicago crime. Sessions is expected to meet with Chicago police union head Dean Angelo on Tuesday.