WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Monday announcement, former Alabama Senator and current U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) declared that state and local governments must now certify that they are not sanctuary cities in order to receive funds from the Department of Justice.
“Such policies cannot continue. They make our nation less safe by putting dangerous criminals back on the streets,” Sessions said in the White House Press Briefing Room. “Today, I am urging states and local jurisdictions to comply with these federal laws.”
According to Sessions, state and local compliance with federal immigration law is now a prerequisite for any funding from DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs. Unless cities change their policies, they could miss out on millions of federal dollars.
In February, the Birmingham City Council voted unanimously to become a sanctuary city, despite state law which prohibits cities from refusing to comply with federal directives on immigration. Gov. Bentley (R-Ala.) issued a strong rebuke of Birmingham’s decision, and said that the state will not support such a venture.
The Center for Immigration Studies compiled a map of every sanctuary state, county, and city in the United States, and they are too numerous to list. A full breakdown of the sanctuary jurisdictions in the country can be seen here.
