Sessions Threatens to Cut $18 Million to California Over ‘Sanctuary’ Policies

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has made going after so-called sanctuary cities a cornerstone of his tenure, sent a letter Friday to California correctional leaders threatening to cut off $18 million a year in public safety grants if the state can't prove it is cooperating with federal immigration law.

It was one of nine letters sent to jurisdictions across the nation on Friday with policies that restrict local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration actions. The letter asks the California Board of State and Community Corrections -- an agency in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that oversees an $18 million a year federal grant program -- to prove by June 30 that the state complies with a federal law that requires local governments to communicate with federal immigration officials about the immigration status of people they come in contact with.

"Many of these jurisdictions are ... crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime," the Justice Department said in a news release, despite the fact that violent crime rates in the U.S. are near record lows.

The news release also stated, "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."

Tracie Cone, a spokeswoman for the Board of State and Community Corrections, said in a written statement that the board complies with the federal law cited in the letter.

In the past, California officials at both the state and local level have argued that while their sanctuary laws prevent them from participating in immigration raids or holding people in jails or prison who would otherwise be released, they do communicate with federal officials and therefore follow the law.

Angela Chan, an immigrants rights attorney who has helped draft sanctuary laws, said the letter is nothing more than posturing by Sessions.

“There’s no teeth in this whatsoever," she said. "There's still nothing in this letter that says we are going to pull funding, nothing in this letter that says we believe you are violating this federal statute, and nothing in this letter that says the federal government has the power to pull funding." 

California's Trust Act prohibits local jails from holding most undocumented immigrants strictly for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if they should otherwise be released, and many of the counties that receive the money under the grant program at issue -- known as the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or JAG -- have their own sanctuary policies.

But threats by Sessions and President Trump have inspired many Democrats in California to push for even stronger protections for undocumented immigrants, ever since Trump issued a Jan. 25 executive order directing the Justice Department to strip funding from sanctuary jurisdictions.

California lawmakers are weighing a bill that would expand the statewide restrictions even further. Senate President Kevin de León, who is authoring the legislation, lashed out Friday over the letters.

“It has become abundantly clear that Attorney General Sessions and the Trump Administration are basing their law enforcement policies on principles of white supremacy -- not American values," he said in a written statement. "Their constant and systematic targeting of diverse cities and states goes beyond constitutional norms and will be challenged at every level.”

In an interview, de León said that whether the letter is simply posturing or not, "when they make threats to withhold needed police officers, we take that seriously." He compared the threat to "holding a gun to the head" of cities, counties and states that want to protect "hard-working immigrants" and said he remains committed to his legislation, Senate Bill 54.

De León noted that the bill has been amended to allow law enforcement officials to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they come across people with serious and violent criminal histories.

Meanwhile, San Francisco -- which has a long history of protecting undocumented immigrants -- and Santa Clara counties already sued the federal government over the executive order, saying it is unconstitutional.

They want a court to block the order from taking effect; a judge considering the case seems inclined to side with the counties while the case plays out in court.

Among the counties that receive JAG grants to pay for programs in the areas of education and crime prevention, law enforcement and prosecution, and courts, including indigent defense:

• Contra Costa County
• Kern County
• Los Angeles County
• San Diego County
• San Francisco City and County
• San Joaquin County
• San Mateo County
• Ventura County
• Butte County
• Merced County
• Placer County
• Santa Cruz County
• Sonoma County
• Stanislaus County
• Tulare County
• Yolo County
• Calaveras County
• Humboldt County
• Imperial County
• Kings County
• Lassen County
• Madera County
• Mariposa County
• Mendocino County
• Modoc County
• Mono County
• Plumas County
• San Benito County
• Shasta County
• Tehama County
• Tuolumne County
• Yuba County