Sanctuary Cities Losing Federal Funding, Cleveland May Be Impacted

CLEVELAND, OH - President Trump is cracking down on the more than 300 sanctuary cities that shield immigrants, the White House announced Wednesday. The federal government will withhold federal funds to those local governments that offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

The order will "strip federal grant money from states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants," White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said.

"We'll prioritize the prosecution and deportation of illegal immigrants who have otherwise violated our laws."

Several cities and counties in Ohio may fall within the president's list of qualified sanctuary cities, including Cleveland. On Nov. 30, 2016, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson told WKYC that the city would not aid in the rounding up and deporting of illegal immigrants.

The city does not declare itself a sanctuary city. Yet, it could still find itself suffering from a sudden lack of federal funds courtesy of Trump. That's because the city has publicly said it will not support the deportation of undocumented peoples.

"We're not an arm of the immigration authorities. We don't detain someone because they're an immigrant. Neither do we question them as to their immigration status," Jackson told the WKYC's Tom Meyer.

There are other Ohio cities and counties that may also feel the squeeze of cuts to their federal funding. According to the Ohio Jobs and Justice Pac, Columbus, Dayton, Lima, Lorain, Oberlin, and Painesville have all made comments suggesting they support sanctuary city policies. Oberlin and Lorain have officially declared themselves sanctuary cities. Lake County and Lucas County have also adopted policies that aid illegal immigrants.

On the campaign trail, Trump frequently said he would deport millions of illegal immigrants and build a wall along the US's border with Mexico.

The action against sanctuary municipalities is expected to be one part of a series of executive orders on immigration issues that will be unveiled over a couple of days - the most notable of which will be an order formally moving forward with Trump's campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

Trump is also expected to impose visa restrictions for people from the Middle East and suspend the program that admits refugees into the United States.

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.

Sources say that the most likely target of funding would be the various grants given to local governments through the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

The two departments administer billions in grants - many of which go to law enforcement agencies in the more than 300 cities and counties that have declared themselves sanctuary cities.

These range from Homeland Security's Urban Area Security Initiative, which helps cities prepare for acts of terrorism, to the Edward Byrne Grant Program, which was named for a New York City Police Officer killed in the line of duty and provides funding for a range of programs including crime victim assistance, drug patrols, and drug treatment.

Written by Colin Miner and Chris Mosby, Patch

Photo from White House