Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says Sanctuary Cities Will Start Losing Federal Funding for Ignoring the Law

On Tuesday, July 25 Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that any cities which prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from entering local penitentiaries in their search for criminal illegal aliens—that is, sanctuary cities—will lose large quantity of federal funding.

Specifically, they will be denied either their Edward Bryne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, or JAG grants.

In order to make this happen, Sessions is imposing new rules on said grants. In order to receive them, cities must:

Comply with federal law. They must not prevent local law enforcement from sharing prisoner’s immigration information with ICE. Allow ICE agents into detention centers. Give ICE a 48-hour notice before releasing anyone for whom ICE requested a detainer.

The new rules will go into effect for the fiscal year 2017.

As to why the administration is cracking down, AG Sessions said:

So-called ‘sanctuary’ policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes… [upholding the law] is what the American people should be able to expect from their cities and states, and these long overdue requirements will help us take down MS-13 and other violent transnational gangs, and make our country safer.

And of course, AG Sessions is strictly correct: sanctuary cities do not make American citizens safer. This is a statistical fact (despite what the left and mainstream media might tell you). Yet it’s a fact many on the left aren’t willing to recognize:

This is welcome news, and is part of a broader pattern of the Trump administration cracking down on illegal immigration. In fact, it comes on the heels of the Department of Homeland Security announcing that it will roll-out visa-overstay tracking software starting in 2018.