The Trump administration issued an Executive Order on April 28 in a new attack on jurisdictions that protect all residents regardless of immigration status.
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy responded with the following statement:
“Trump’s continuing retribution campaign, which threatens to withhold federal funding from local governments that have implemented policies to welcome immigrants, is as unlawful as it is tired. Just a few days earlier, a federal judge blocked the administration from punishing 16 welcoming cities and counties under two prior executive orders. The court's ruling asserted that threats to funding for welcoming jurisdictions cause ‘irreparable harm in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between Cities and Counties and the communities they serve.’ The judge saw no distinction between these efforts and Trump's failed attempts to punish welcoming cities during his first term, which also were found unlawful by federal courts. The administration could have learned from its many failures that state and local jurisdictions are within their constitutional rights to set their own law enforcement policies, rather than to be complicit in terrorizing immigrant communities alongside the federal government. Instead, as the federal judge stated earlier this week, ‘Here we are again.’
“We all deserve better from our president and federal agencies. Continuing to spend taxpayer funds to violate the Constitution undermines our collective right to a functioning and lawful federal government. Jurisdictions with welcoming policies, including Illinois, Cook County, and the City of Chicago, are safer and more prosperous. Once again, we call on the Trump administration to uphold the rule of law and let our state and local jurisdictions exercise their lawful authority to direct local resources toward programs that protect all residents.”