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Sanctuary cities on DOJ's list set to reap the whirlwind
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Sanctuary cities on DOJ's list set to reap the whirlwind

Nearly all of the jurisdictions on the Justice Department's list are Democrat-run.

The Trump Department of Justice published on Monday a list of American states, cities, and counties that can expect or are already fighting legal action over sanctuary policies and laws that serve to undermine or prevent the execution of immigration law enforcement.

"Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design," said Attorney General Pam Bondi. "The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country."

'Nevada is not a sanctuary state and will never be a sanctuary jurisdiction under Governor Lombardo.'

Among the 18 cities listed are Albuquerque, New Mexico; Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California.

Blaze News has reached out for comment to mayors of all of the cities on the DOJ's list.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller (D) said in a statement to Blaze News, "Albuquerque is a welcoming city and where crime is now actually going down in every category this year. So we are proving that we are safer and stronger when residents trust law enforcement enough to report crimes, send their kids to school, and seek services without fear. Our recent executive order supports both our immigrant community while ensuring APD can focus on public safety, not federal immigration enforcement."

Four counties have so far been singled out: Baltimore County, Maryland; Cook County, Illinois; San Diego County, California; and San Francisco County, California.

The following states are also on the list: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The District of Columbia is also identified as an offending "state."

RELATED: Wyoming joins forces with ICE to address illegal immigration crisis

Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The DOJ indicated that each state, county, and city listed will have a chance to respond to its placement on the list.

Joe Lombardo, the Republican governor of Nevada, railed against his state's inclusion on the list.

His office stated, "Nevada is not a sanctuary state and will never be a sanctuary jurisdiction under Governor Lombardo. At Governor Lombardo's direction, Nevada has followed all federal laws and cooperated with federal immigration authorities, and the state will continue to do so."

In addition to declarations of sanctuary status and the implementation of laws, regulations, resolutions, or other formalized practices that obstruct ICE or limit local cooperation with federal authorities, jurisdictions can land on the DOJ's list for:

  • prohibiting the use of local funds or resources to support federal immigration efforts;
  • providing training to employees and police on enforcing sanctuary policies and refusing to respond to ICE requests for information;
  • refusing to honor ICE detainer requests;
  • restricting ICE agents' ability to speak to detainees without the illegal aliens' consent;
  • the establishment of "dedicated offices to engage and advise illegal alien communities on evading federal law enforcement officers"; and
  • helping illegal aliens unlawfully exploit federally funded citizen benefits.

The DOJ's list was published pursuant to President Donald Trump's April 28 executive order titled "Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens," which required the attorney general both to publish a list of obstructionist jurisdictions and states and to "notify each sanctuary jurisdiction regarding its defiance of Federal immigration law enforcement and any potential violations of Federal criminal law."

RELATED: Florida sheriff: Feds are running out of space because we're arresting so many illegal aliens

Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

New York City, which is on the new list, was slapped with a lawsuit last month that provides some sense of the approach that may be taken with the other jurisdictions.

The government accused New York City of violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and requested the sanctuary policies' invalidation.

"New York City's Sanctuary Provisions have the purpose and effect of making it more difficult for federal immigration officers to carry out their responsibilities in that jurisdiction," said the government's complaint. "This intentional sabotage of federal immigration enforcement is unlawful and dangerous."

The lawsuit also highlighted the fallout of New York City Democrats' sanctuary policies.

It noted, for instance, that the two illegal aliens who allegedly shot an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer in the face on July 19 were "repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior" but shielded from consequence and deportation.

After one of the two suspects was arrested for fourth-degree felony grand larceny and petit larceny in April, the New York City Department of Correction cut him loose, ignoring an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, as it had with 96% of ICE detainer requests last year.

Refusals to honor ICE detainers have played a major role in the avoidable loss of American life in recent years.

'The stakes are too high.'

For instance, in July 2024, an illegal alien from Honduras with at least one assault and battery conviction to his name was arrested for allegedly beating a Virginia man to death. A judge ordered the Honduran national, Maudin Anibal Guzman-Videz, deported in 2019, and in subsequent years, ICE reportedly filed multiple immigration detainers against him with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center; however, the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office reportedly failed to honor the detainers.

RELATED: 9 times sanctuary policies and a lax approach to illegal immigration endangered American lives

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

The pressure applied by the Trump DOJ has already prompted some changes of heart, including in Louisville, Kentucky, which recently appeared on a Department of Homeland Security list of sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law — a list far longer that the DOJ's, with over 600 municipalities named and shamed.

Bondi announced on July 22 that the City of Louisville, Kentucky, was dropping its sanctuary policies "as a result of a strong written warning from my office."

Mayor Craig Greenberg noted that his city made the list because of the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections' practice of providing the DHS with only five to 12 hours before releasing an inmate who has an ICE detainer. Prior to 2017, Metro Corrections would provide 48 hours' notice.

"Metro Corrections will begin honoring 48-hour federal detainers as soon as practical because the stakes are too high," wrote Greenberg. "In turn, Louisville will no longer be considered a 'sanctuary city' by the federal government. This change in designation is critical."

Editor's note: This article has been updated after publication to include comment from Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.

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Joseph MacKinnon

Joseph MacKinnon

Joseph MacKinnon is a staff writer for Blaze News.
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