U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Todd Lyons said ICE will ramp up enforcement efforts in sanctuary cities if they do not cooperate with federal agents, Fox News reports. Some cities are fighting back with legal action against the federal immigration push.
A sanctuary city, county or state is a region that adopts policies designed to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement authorities.
“We want to work with you, but if you don’t want to work with the federal government, if you don’t want to work with ICE, then we’re going to make sure that we’re doing all we can do to bring our law enforcement resources to that jurisdiction. And we’re going to take care of those public safety threats,” Lyons said.
Trump administration emphasizes tougher actions
President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has stated that ICE will be conducting raids and apprehending criminal migrants who illegally crossed the border and are now living in sanctuary cities, regardless of local policies. He also emphasized that if sanctuary cities do not cooperate, they should “get the hell out of the way.”
Support and opposition across states
Director Lyons also praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom for declaring that his state would be willing to help ICE with detainer requests.
An ICE detainer request is when the agency asks a local, state or federal law enforcement agency to hold an individual in custody for up to 48 additional hours after they would normally be released or to notify ICE before releasing the individual.
Legal pushback from cities and advocacy groups
The leadership of some sanctuary cities and states is taking legal action against the federal government and its immigration raids.
In Chicago, several refugee organizations filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and ICE, contending that the planned mass deportation raids are retaliatory actions against Chicago’s sanctuary city policies. The lawsuit also claims the raids violate the First Amendment rights of advocacy groups by suppressing their speech and activities.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the federal government over immigration raids in Kern County, California. The lawsuit alleges that Border Patrol agents unlawfully targeted individuals based on race and appearance, conducted searches and seizures without probable cause, and made arrests without warrants.
