Story highlights The first few months of the administration have brought increased tension with cities

Some mayors expressed frustration with the lack of answers from the administration

Washington (CNN) Mayors and local police chiefs have a message for the Trump administration: Define "sanctuary city" before you demonize us.

A bipartisan group of mayors and police chiefs met Wednesday with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to discuss President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement executive orders -- and some afterward expressed frustration with the lack of answers from the administration.

The first few months of the administration have been marked by increased tension between the administration and localities over Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement, which many major city mayors have decried as destabilizing.

The meeting came days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions re-emphasized the administration's desire to take federal funds away from so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions, telling reporters that any jurisdictions applying for Justice Department grants and funds will be required to certify compliance with a piece of US law on sharing citizenship information -- a policy first put in place by the Obama administration.

The week before, the Department of Homeland Security put out its first weekly report of law enforcement jurisdictions that declined to honor requests to detain undocumented immigrants beyond what is required by criminal proceedings. Mandated by the executive orders signed by Trump in January, the reports are part of continued pressure and a name-and-shame effort by the administration on cities to push them to help with federal immigration enforcement.

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