AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT: CAP Experts on DOJ Threat to Withhold Federal Funds from Sanctuary Cities

Washington, D.C. — Center for American Progress experts are available to comment today following Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement regarding potentially withholding billions of dollars in U.S. Department of Justice funds to punish so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. These funds are essential to community policing efforts and community safety. The Trump administration, however, is threatening an action that Congress has rejected before, and the Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government cannot force or coerce states to assist in federal immigration enforcement. The Center for American Progress has also found that crime is statistically significantly lower in sanctuary counties compared with those that are not and that economies are stronger in sanctuary counties.

The following CAP experts are available for comment this evening and through the week:

• Tom Jawetz, Vice President, Immigration
• Philip E. Wolgin, Managing Director, Immigration
• Danyelle Solomon, Director, Progress 2050
• Ed Chung, Vice President, Criminal Justice Reform

Related resources:

• How Much Funding for Sanctuary Jurisdictions Could Be at Risk? by Angelo Mathay, Alyson Sincavage, Philip E. Wolgin, and Sanam Masroor (en español)
• The Effects of Sanctuary Policies on Crime and the Economy by Tom K. Wong (en español)
• The Negative Consequences of Entangling Local Policing and Immigration Enforcement by Danyelle Solomon, Tom Jawetz, and Sanam Malik

For more information or to speak with an expert on this topic, please contact Rafael J. Medina at rjmedina@americanprogress.org or 202.478.5313.