SAN FRANCISCO–(ENEWSPF)–December 3, 2016
Back of city bus in San Francisco with large sign declaring San Francisco as a sanctuary city.
“We’re not afraid of you,” seems to be the message from sanctuary cities to President-elect Donald Trump. Sanctuary cities—those that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authority’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants—are facing the loss of federal aid if they fail to cooperate with Trump’s mass deportation threats.
Since (Trump’s) election, local officials in at least 18 major “sanctuary” cities have pledged to limit their cooperation with federal immigration officials. By one estimate, 12 of these cities account for roughly 20 percent of all undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Trump’s threat could mean the loss of 1 to 25 percent of a city’s budget, or, as the Los Angles Times reported, Trump’s advisors are considering specifically targeting law enforcement funding.
If local authorities refuse to cooperate, Trump’s advisors are looking at withholding some federal law enforcement funds and equipment that go to state and local police agencies for holding federal prisoners or improving police practices.
Most cities receive grants for their police departments to buy equipment, provide training and, oh yeah, fight terrorism. Let us pause for a moment and think of New York, Chicago and San Francisco without any extra funds to fight terrorism.
In some cities the loss would be small—1.2 percent of Portland’s city budget and 2 percent of its police budget—but in others, like Washington, D.C., the loss would be a catastrophic 25 percent of the city budget.
New York would face losing 9 percent of the city budget or $7 billion, and $185 million of the police budget. To which Mayor Bill DeBlasio responded:
“We are not going to sacrifice a half million people who live among us, who are part of our community. We are not going to tear families apart.”
Source: http://dailykos.com
