As the administration's attempts to withhold broader swaths of federal funding from sanctuary cities have drawn court challenges, the department has homed in on smaller targets, such as the $1.6 million grant issued last year and already spent on initiatives including overtime and police training. Then, under President Barack Obama, the department told city officials that to keep the funds, they would have to certify they were complying with a federal law that bars cities from restricting communication with Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the immigration status of people encountered by police or other municipal agencies.