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Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, US News, Joe Biden
Eleanor Dye
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, US News, Joe Biden
President Donald Trump has revealed he is suspending federal funding to 'sanctuary cities' and states - and it will come into force at the start of next month.
The announcement, which comes as part of his administration's crackdown on immigration, is expected to affect 11 U.S. states identified by the Department of Justice.
So-called 'sanctuary states' are generally considered to be those that are home to local governments resisting the Trump administration's immigration policy, limiting co-operation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (ICE) and shielding those in the country illegally from deportation.
Trump has previously threatened to withhold federal resources from certain states, but courts have often blocked such efforts.
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In August, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from withholding funds from 30 jurisdictions following his crackdown on immigration.
In April, the President directed federal officials to withhold funds from sanctuary jurisdictions; however, a California judge struck down the proposal, calling it 'unconstitutional' (via Associated Press).
In an address at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday (January 13), Trump said: "Starting February 1, we are not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens.
"It breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come, so we’re not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities."
In an additional post on Truth Social, the President claimed that if states want any resources, then 'they will have to pay for them'.
In his speech, Trump did not clarify which funds or states would be halted, but the following are included in the Justice Department's initial list of Sanctuary Jurisdictions:
It also listed three counties: Cook County in Illinois, San Diego County and San Francisco County (both in California).
Meanwhile, the cities identified were Albuquerque, Berkeley, Boston, Chicago, Denver, East Lansing, Hoboken, Jersey City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Newark, Paterson, Philadelphia, Portland, Rochester, Seattle and San Francisco.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said the decision was made after a thorough review of the jurisdictions' 'documented laws, ordinances, and executive directives,' adding that more may be included at a later date.
Each state will be given the opportunity to respond, they also said.
Meanwhile, multiple other lawsuits over funding and sanctuary have been filed, Reuters reports.
In August, the DOJ identified three dozen 'sanctuary' cities, with Attorney General Pamela Bondi claiming these policies 'impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design'.