Mass. Officials Rebuke AG's Double-Down on 'Sanctuary City' Funding Cuts

Massachusetts officials and groups rebuked Washington's renewed threat Monday to yank federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities and states.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions hit the podium for an afternoon press briefing to urge towns, cities and states to end the policies that undercut federal laws regarding immigrants — laws that make those municipalities so-called "sanctuary cities." All jurisdictions applying for Department of Justice grants will need to certify compliance with Section 1373, he said.

In Massachusetts, Somerville and Cambridge are self-described sanctuary cities, while communities like Newton, Boston, Northampton, Orleans, Amherst and Chelsea teeter on the edge with related legislation.

• Subscribe to Beacon Hill Patch for state government news.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said it is "irresponsible and destructive."

"The safety and well-being of our residents is, and will continue to be, my top priority as Mayor of Boston," he said in an evening statement. "The threat of cutting federal funding from cities across the country that aim to foster trusting relationships between their law enforcement and the immigrant community is irresponsible and destructive."

Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons stood in lockstep with Walsh.

"Given that Donald Trump has been stating for months that he would seek to punish sanctuary cities like Cambridge by withholding federal funding, today's statement by the Attorney General does not come as a surprise," she said in a statement. "That does not make it any less irresponsible or disgraceful that the federal government would continue to push for punitive and heartless actions like this one."

The Mass. Democratic Party took an even stiffer swing at the White House, with Chairman Gus Bickford saying Trump is "bullying" immigrants and calling his Chief Strategist Steve Bannon a "white supremacist."

Sessions said the Justice Department will offer more than $4 billion in grants this fiscal year.

"The American people are justifiably angry," he said. "They know that when cities and states refuse to help enforce immigration laws, our nation is less safe. Failure to deport aliens who are convicted for criminal offenses puts whole communities at risk — especially immigrant communities in the very sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to protect the perpetrators."

Alex Newman, Patch staff, contributed to this report

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik