Prove You're Cooperating With Immigration Enforcement, DOJ Tells Chicago, Or Risk Losing Funds
By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 21, 2017 8:36PM
Attorney General Jeff Sessions / Getty Images / Photo: Win McNamee
Donald Trump's Justice Department on Friday ratcheted up the pressure on Chicago and other so-called sanctuary cities. The Department of Justice sent letters to representatives of nine jurisdictions—including two in Chicago—threatening to cut off funds if they don't allow local law enforcement to cooperate freely with immigration enforcement and asking for proof of steps taken.
Supt. Eddie Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were both sent letters from the department, along with officials in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Miami, Milwaukee, New York City.
The administration again hinted at a line, without evidence, between undocumented immigrants and Chicago's crime rate. The department wrote in a press release (emphasis ours, on the Chicago portion):
"[M]any of these jurisdictions are also crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime. The number of murders in Chicago has skyrocketed, rising more than 50 percent from the 2015 levels. New York City continues to see gang murder after gang murder, the predictable consequence of the city's “soft on crime” stance. And just several weeks ago in California’s Bay Area, after a raid captured 11 MS-13 members on charges including murder, extortion and drug trafficking, city officials seemed more concerned with reassuring illegal immigrants that the raid was unrelated to immigration than with warning other MS-13 members that they were next."
The letters sent to Preckwinkle and Johnson both asked for documents that show compliance:
"[Y]our jurisdiction is required to submit documentation to OJP that validates that your jurisdiction is in compliance with 8 U.S.C. 1373, which states that 'a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in anyway restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.'"
The referenced law says that local government cannot restrict local enforcement departments from sharing a person's immigration status with federal immigration officers. Sessions has argued that the request is more or less a continuation of Obama policy. But some legal uncertainties could arise related to the logistics of such cooperation, including the use of detainers.
The letters up the ante on statements made late last month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions—which itself echoed Trump's previous executive order that called for sanctuary cities to have their Justice Department grants withheld.
The grants under threat—which amounted to roughly $24.5 million for Chicago last year, according to the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, —go in most part to law enforcement efforts. They include Chicago police programs, the COPS Hiring initiative and bodycam grants.
The mayor's office said that approximately $13.4 million in law-enforcement grants this year are subject to risk under the threat, according to the Sun Times. The Justice Department gave a deadline of June 30 for Chicago to show that the city has met the request.
Updated: Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded to the DOJ letter in a statement emailed to the Sun-Times:
“Neither the facts, nor the law are on their side,” the mayor said. “Regardless, let me be clear: Chicago’s values and Chicago’s future are not for sale.”