The actions the Trump Administration has taken in its first few days come from a place of utter cruelty, racism, and greed. These executive actions are intended to shock and awe – but we are resisting and we will govern for all our people.
First: The Administration’s pause on all federal grants and loans blatantly violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law and is an extreme, unprecedented power grab that would have devastating impacts on communities across the country. This order appears to target essential programs that keep tenants housed (Section 8), provide life-saving healthcare (Medicaid), provide childcare for families (Head Start), and invest in cancer research (NIH). But local communities are fighting back; a federal court has already issued a temporary restraining order halting the implementation of the OMB memo so all federal funds must continue to be disbursed. The most recent development is that the White House rescinded the memo freezing federal money; however, the White House press secretary claims that the freeze remains in effect. As the Trump Administration continues to cause chaos and confusion, local leaders can and must stand firm and fight back. Please continue reaching out to your federal representatives to let them know that you want them to do everything in their power to stop this overreach; please reach out if you have any questions, want to share about impacts in your community, or want to strategize together. Your advocacy is already making a difference.
Second: You may have seen that the Administration is unlawfully threatening sanctuary jurisdictions. A recent DOJ memorandum directs federal prosecutors to investigate and prosecute state and local actors for “resisting, obstructing, or otherwise failing to comply with” immigration-related commands and requests, while an executive order seeks to deny federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions.
📍 While these moves are alarming, here’s the bottom line: the law has not changed; sanctuary policies are lawful, and the Trump Administration’s threats are baseless.
Our friends at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and ACLU spell out why and are warning the Administration that their threats are legally unjustifiable. You can find a quick explainer from us further below.
The Trump Administration is resorting to unlawful scare tactics because it knows that sanctuary policies work; they prevent immigrant families from being torn apart and preserve scarce local resources. Nearly 70% of all ICE interior enforcement detentions start as local arrests. By lawfully limiting cooperation with the federal government, sanctuary policies protect immigrants from automatically being funneled into deportation proceedings and help maintain trust between residents and local governments. And where state preemption is an issue, actions that minimize arrests – like cite-and-release policies and decriminalizing low-level offenses – also help to reduce the risk of deportation.
Looking for ways to take action and learn more about how you can protect your community? Review our policy toolkit, Protecting Our Communities and Fighting for Democracy in a Second Trump Administration, which contains a detailed set of policy recommendations to protect immigrant communities.
We know that this will not be the last of the Trump Administration’s attacks on immigrants. We stand ready and will continue to fight back. Our hope today is that you feel equipped with the information you need to assess these anti-sanctuary threats and to boldly defend your communities.
⚖️ Why sanctuary policies are lawful.
The sanctuary policies outlined in our toolkit are lawful because, in general, they simply limit state or local cooperation with the federal government. Under the U.S. Constitution and federal law, such cooperation is voluntary, not required. Federal courts have repeatedly ruled that declining to ask individuals about immigration status or to comply with an ICE detainer request — two common sanctuary policies — are perfectly lawful. These rulings are based on the fact that the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal government from forcing state or local officers to enforce federal policy, and that includes federal immigration law. Also perfectly lawful, and protected by the First Amendment, are common information-sharing activities like conducting know-your-rights trainings and providing legal assistance.
The Trump Administration’s efforts to restrict federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions were largely unsuccessful in his first Administration, and this executive order will almost certainly be unsuccessful this time around since the U.S. Constitution makes clear that Congress holds “the power of the purse.”
Photo retrieved from Bolts Mag
