Jeff Sessions' Empty Threat Against Sanctuary Cities

Jeff Sessions

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to "claw back" Department of Justice federal funding from so-called "sanctuary cities" during a White House press briefing on Mon­day, March 27: As part of the Trump administration's ongoing crackdown on cities that won't blindly hand undocumented immigrants over to federal agencies, non-compliant cities will now be ineligible for the $4.1 billion in grants dished out by the Office of Justice Pro­grams and Community Oriented Polic­ing Services. The AG said he urges states and cities "to consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws, and to rethink these policies."

While Austin would appear to be a target for the funding drain, Travis County spokesperson Kristen Dark says – to the best of the department's knowledge – the rhetoric does not legally affect how Sheriff Sally Her­nandez does her business. Sessions cited 8 U.S. Code 1373, a statute that ensures localities share information regarding a resident's immigration or citizenship status with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce­ment. Hernandez says the department fully follows the federal law.

TCSO is "completely lawful and upholding the Constitution with our ICE policy," Hernan­dez said in a statement on Monday. "We are also in full compliance with 8 USC 1373. Our policy ... in no way prohibits or restricts sending information to or requesting or receiving information from ICE regarding an individual's immigration or citizenship status, and nothing in this policy shall be construed to prohibit or restrict TCSO personnel from exchanging information regarding the immigration or citizenship status of any individual with ICE."

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said she's "frustrated that Travis County resources and attention are continually diverted from public safety to address unfounded politically motivated allegations of wrongdoing." She added that the statute Sessions cited "has been in our federal grants for many years. We are and have been in full compliance with its requirements. The cited provision is thin cloaking for political retribution." On Tuesday, County Commissioners voted 4-1 (Pct. 3's Gerald Daugherty opposed) to join an amicus brief in support of a San Francisco-based lawsuit against a January executive order to punish "sanctuary cities." Travis will join 34 other cities and counties nationwide to provide assistance in the case, which argues the immigration order is unconstitutional.

In related news: Mayor Steve Adler was expected to meet and talk immigration with Department of Homeland Security Sec­retary John Kelly on Wednesday, as we go to press. We can think of a few questions that we hope Adler remembered to ask.