Pam Bondi, Hours Into Her Tenure, Orders End of Funding for Sanctuary Cities, Investigations of Officials Harboring Migrants

Attorney General Bondi, in her first acts as head of the Justice Department, has issued a slew of new orders to her staff to help with President Trump’s mass deportation operation, including ending all federal funding for so-called “sanctuary cities” and criminal investigations of those officials who harbor migrants from immigration and deportation enforcement officers. Ms. Bondi’s moves were first reported by Fox News. Ms. Bondi was confirmed by the Senate late Tuesday, with just one Democrat, Senator Fetterman, joining all Republicans to support her nomination. She was sworn in on Wednesday morning in the Oval Office by Justice Clarence Thomas. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, there are currently sanctuary cities, counties, and towns across 23 states. While there is no explicit definition of what makes a city a “sanctuary city,” it is generally used to define those cities, states, and counties that have policies in place hindering law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal agents looking to deport certain migrants. A bill in Congress, the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act, would define a sanctuary city as a locality that refuses to share “information with federal, state, or local law enforcement entities regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual.” The definition would further describe a sanctuary jurisdiction as one that does not enforce migrant detainers handed down by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ms. Bondi’s order to halt federal funding for these jurisdictions will certainly be challenged in federal court, though the Trump administration is already offering vigorous defenses of the executive branch’s unilateral withholding of funds in other areas on multiple fronts. Congress is already taking action on cracking down on these sanctuary jurisdictions. On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee announced that the mayors of Boston, Denver, and New York City would all attend a hearing to discuss their own sanctuary policies. The mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, and the Mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston, have both mounted fierce defenses of their policies to protect migrants. “We want immigrants to know that it is safe for everyone, to be able to feel comfortable reaching out for emergency services, to report a crime, to ask for help, and generally to be part of our community,” Ms. Wu, herself a daughter of immigrants, said in a November interview with WBUR after Mr. Trump was elected. Mr. Johnston previously said he would bar ICE officers from entering his city, but has since walked that back. The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, however, has been one of the few big city mayors to unambiguously say that he will aid the federal government with its deportation mission. Mr. Adams was the first high-profile Democrat to meet with Mr. Trump’s deportation czar, Tom Homan, after the November election. “Those who are here committing crimes, robberies, shooting at police officers, raping innocent people, have been a harm to our country,” Mr. Adams said at a press conference in December. “I would love to sit down with the Border Czar and hear his thoughts on how we’re going to address those who are harming our citizens.”

Pam Bondi, Hours Into Her Tenure, Orders End of Funding for Sanctuary Cities, Investigations of Officials Harboring Migrants

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