US Attorney General sends out threats letters to refuge cities

Photo: Facebook / Jeff Sessions's Ears

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken new steps to punish cities that he believes are not cooperating with federal immigration agents.

The Ministry of Justice sent letters to four cities that are fighting violence with weapons. The letter talked about the fact that cities will be deprived of rights to a program that provides money to combat drug trafficking and crime in gangs if they do not fulfill certain conditions. This refers to the granting of access to prisons to federal immigration authorities, as well as warning officers of the release date of a prisoner who violated an immigration right.

Baltimore, Albuquerque, Stockton, and San Bernardino in California have expressed interest in partnering with the Department of Justice, which is attracting federal agents, analysts, and technicians to help communities find solutions to crime.

None of the four cities has declared itself a "refuge city".

“Based on simple common sense considerations, we encourage every jurisdiction in this country to cooperate with federal law enforcement,” the statement, which accompanied the letters, said.

These defunding threats are the latest efforts to force local authorities to help federal agents detain and deport people living in the country illegally.

The Attorney General has repeatedly promised to deprive those cities that do not cooperate with migration services from federal funding.

However, some cities did not immediately understand why they were sent these letters.

In a letter to the Attorney General, Republican Mayor Albuquerque Richard Berry denied that the largest city in New Mexico is a refuge for immigrants living in the country illegally, and said that he was trying to work with immigration authorities since taking office in 2009 year. In fact, Berry said: “In recent years, the number of immigration and customs officers in the prison transport center has decreased.”

Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Mexico, called the requirements "bullying tactics."

“The city of San Bernardino has never passed any formal legislation to declare itself a sanctuary city,” said Police Chief Jarrod Burguan. “Our policy has been very, very consistent over the years.”

Police do not enforce immigration laws in Baltimore, where those arrested are imprisoned under state-run prisons, said Anthony McCarthy, a spokesman for Mayor Catherine Pugh. The state states that it has a federal immigration policy in its custody system.

“We have tremendous federal support to reduce violence, and we don't want to hold back progress,” McCarthy said.

Sessions has vowed to make fighting immigration and street crime a top Justice Department priority, but the strategy puts him at odds with some city leaders who say the best way to fight crime and build community trust is to prohibit local police from working with immigration officers.

Donald Trump, who during the election campaign repeatedly stated the need to combat illegal immigration, by his decree of January 25 ordered US government to stop funding cities that provide asylum.

Recall that earlier the mayor of Miami-Dade County ordered to obey the order of President Donald Trump, which obliges them to cooperate with federal authorities in the identification and deportation of illegal immigrants.

However, the authorities of the other cities of refuge refuse from cooperation with the White House and intend to protect immigrants, guided by local laws, and may lose billions of dollars coming from the federal budget.

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