Albuquerque To AG Jeff Sessions: We're No 'Sanctuary' City

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The U.S. Justice Department says New Mexico's largest city is a "sanctuary" for immigrants living in the country illegally, but Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry is disputing that claim.

The Justice Department sent letters to four cities telling them they will be ineligible for an anti-violence program if they don't help detain and deport people in the country illegally. The cities — Baltimore, Albuquerque, and Stockton and San Bernardino, California — had expressed interest in the Public Safety Partnership. It offers agents, analysts and technology to find solutions to crime.

Berry, a Republican, wrote to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the city has tried to partner with federal immigration authorities, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement staffing levels dropped in recent years. He said Albuquerque has been seeking to work with immigration authorities since he took office in 2009 and vehemently denied Albuquerque was a "sanctuary" city. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Berry said if Sessions had an issue with Bernalillo County jails, he needed to take those concerns to the county.

Photo credit: Jay LaPrete, Russell Contreras/ and Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press