In bold defiance of President Trump’s threat to kill funding to so-called “sanctuary cities” that hide criminal illegal immigrants, the list of outlaw cities and counties has reached 600, according to a new analysis of the crisis.
What’s more, the left-leaning Center for American Progress has come up with an estimate of how much funding those cities, counties and even states threaten to lose under Trump’s immigration executive orders: $870 million.
While other expert groups have estimated the number of sanctuary cities at about 300, CAP produced a map showing some 600. That same map indicates that three heavily Democratic states that backed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2016 election would get hit hardest by the funding cuts, California, Illinois and New York.
“All across the nation, more than 600 cities and counties, as well as a handful of states, have adopted policies that limit the extent of assistance they will provide federal immigration enforcement officers, recognizing that they—rather than the federal government—know what is best for the safety and security of their communities,” said the new report titled. “How Much Funding for Sanctuary Jurisdictions Could Be at Risk?”
The numbers of sanctuaries has been in question for years, in part because pro-immigrant groups count more in than have actual policies to refuse demands by federal immigration officials to turn over criminal illegals.
In fact, when the Obama administration threatened to cut off funding in 2016, some estimates dropped to 270. But pro-immigrant groups such as CAP, said a critic, boost the numbers to make the sanctuary city movement look popular and harder to kill.
The new report relied in part of a report from Immigrant Legal Resource Center for its number. It added, “There is no single definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction. For the purposes of this study, however, the authors consider it to be any place that, at the very least, limits the acceptance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers, which are requests to hold people beyond the time when they would otherwise be released solely for federal civil immigration purposes.”
Since Trump signed his executive orders, several cities have doubled down on their plan to hide criminal illegals. But at the same time, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have stepped up their searches for those it wants to deport and criticized cities, notably New York City, for refusing to cooperate and potentially creating a dangerous situation for their citizens.
The CAP report does not exaggerate what funding would be killed under Trump, who has not been specific about the money to cities he would target.
Instead, it adds up the funds the Obama administration, backed by congressional Republicans, would target, including Justice grants, law enforcement funding, and community block grants.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
