Will 'Sanctuary City' Label Cost Princeton Federal Funding?

PRINCETON, NJ — President Donald Trump is cracking down on the more than 300 sanctuary cities that shield immigrants, signing an executive order Wednesday that would withhold federal funds to those local governments that offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants. He signed the executive order during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security.

The order against sanctuary cities was expected to be one part of a series of executive orders on immigration issues that will be unveiled over a couple of days.

Sanctuary cities and counties are called that because they offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants, refusing to turn them over to federal officials for deportation. Most sanctuary cities and counties have also passed laws preventing employees from even turning over information to immigration officials.

While Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert has said Princeton isn’t a ‘Sanctuary City,’ some view it that way. Lempert instead classifies the town as a “Welcoming Community.”

"The Princeton Council passed a resolution to have Princeton join the 'Welcoming America' organization and designate Princeton a Welcoming Community. Our police follow the NJ attorney general's directive 2007-3 on ICE detainers," Lempert said. "One of Princeton Council's overarching priorities is to keep Princeton a safe and inclusive community. Our local police department has had great success in building positive and productive ties with residents throughout the community, including immigrants, and these relationships have helped the police do their job in making the community safer for everyone. It's important that immigrants feel comfortable coming forward to report crimes and cooperating in criminal investigations without fear of deportation. It's important for Princeton to ensure we stay a safe community and safeguard our values. We don’t expect to be impacted by President Trump's executive order, but regardless, we are committed to remaining a welcoming community."

ICE raids have already taken place in Princeton.

“We’ve had some ICE raids in Princeton, including one where the cops weren’t notified, and it was a dangerous situation,” Lempert told Princeton Patch last summer. “We thought it was a kidnapping.”

Before Trump signed the sanctuary city order, he signed an order formally moving forward with his campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

"This is border security," Trump said. "We've been talking about this from the beginning. This is going to bring it over the top. We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States.

"A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders."

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said Trump's actions put him "on the wrong side of common-sense, political realism and our American history."

“This is a terrible and ugly decision by a President who is more concerned with right-wing fringe movements than doing what’s right for all of America, for the economy, and for the future of this country," Menendez said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "Donald Trump started his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and murderers, and he is shamefully starting his Presidency by declaring open season on immigrants and refugees, and making taxpayers foot the bill for his nativist impulses."

He added that Trump appears to be "held hostage by the most extreme anti-immigrant members of his inner circle."

“In the face of the White House’s nativist agenda, Americans must rise above and remember that it was our immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents who built this nation, fueled the industrial revolution, kept our factories running, built our roads and highways, worked hard, started businesses, defeated fascism in all corners of the globe, became part of the greatest generation, and gave this generation a chance to reach our full potential. Immigration did that," Menendez said. “ ... The fact remains, to prevent playing a game of whack-a-mole with President Trump’s attacks on our immigrant and refugee communities, Congress must again begin the debate on comprehensive immigration reform to bring our immigration system into the 21st Century. We must not turn our back on those who come to America for freedom and opportunity. Now more than ever, we need leaders from both sides of the aisle who understand what the immigrant experience, immigrant history, and immigrant heritage means to the progress of this nation.”

Immigrants and advocates from Make the Road New Jersey shared their outrage and joined a call for immediate resistance in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.

"As a college student who hopes to one day work in public service, I see Donald Trump’s policy as a direct attack on my family and community's future," Make the Road New Jersey member DACA student and Hillside resident Sara Mora said . "I condemn President Trump's cruel actions today and recommit to fighting to protect our community - we will not stop until all immigrants are safe and respected."

Additional reporting by Colin Miner (Patch Staff)