The Department of Justice on Wednesday warned 23 jurisdictions around the country that they must turn over documents showing they are not acting as sanctuary cities or counties, or face a subpoena for those documents.

A senior Justice Department official said that by sending out these warnings, the department “is taking the next step in our continued efforts to ensure that jurisdictions that have received or applied for federal taxpayer dollars stick to their word in act in compliance with federal law.”

According to letters sent out by the department, officials are looking for city or county codes and statutes, or city council declarations, showing they are in compliance with federal law that requires local officials to cooperate with the federal government on immigration matters.

The jurisdictions have all received some sort of communication before from the Justice Department about their policies and procedures, and how they could possibly be in violation of the federal statute. The Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made it clear that violating the law means jurisdictions could be stripped of federal grants, specifically those from the Byrne JAG grant program.

The department's letters on Wednesday were a way to tell Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and other cities and counties they are running out of time to prove compliance with the statute.

The Justice Department official noted that the Obama administration made an obvious condition that jurisdictions applying for Byrne JAG grants knew they would have to prove compliance with the law as a condition for receiving the funds.

The law in question — 8 USC § 1373, which passed as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act in 1996 — prohibits local and state governments from enacting laws or policies that limit communication with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Customs and Border Protection about "information regarding the immigration or citizenship status." The Justice Department says jurisdictions are skirting around Section 1373 and thus releasing illegal immigrants with a potential violent criminal history back into the public.

The Justice Department official said that fiscal year 2017 Byrne JAG grants have yet to be dispersed, and revealed that a majority of the reason is because of pending litigation against the conditions set by the department to receive the funds.

“We will vindicate that authority in due time and ensure that our the disbursement of Byrne JAG funds will be consistent with our ability to do so,” the official said of pending litigation.

The jurisdictions that received the letters Wednesday are: