Attorney General Pam Bondi on her first day in charge put a freeze on Department of Justice funding to sanctuary cities, as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu got a date to testify before a Congressional oversight committee investigating sanctuary city policies.
Bondi, who was approved as AG on Tuesday evening, issued a day-one memo about sanctuary jurisdictions, as President Trump ramps up his illegal immigration crackdown.
“ … The Department of Justice will ensure that, consistent with law, ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ do not receive access to Federal funds from the Department,” reads Bondi’s memo.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions should not receive access to federal grants administered by the Department of Justice,” the memo later states.
Boston is a sanctuary city under the Trust Act, a 2014 local law that prohibits city police and other departments from cooperating with ICE and federal agencies on civil immigration detainers.
The DOJ plans to “pursue enforcement actions” against cities that get in the way of federal immigration crackdown efforts, according to the memo.
“Actions that impede federal efforts to enforce immigration law threaten public safety and national security,” Bondi’s memo states. “State and local jurisdictions must comply with applicable immigration-related federal laws.”
The DOJ will stop the distribution of funds until the agency has completed a review, according to Bondi’s memo.
The feds will also “terminate any agreements that are in violation of law or are the source of waste, fraud, or abuse,” the memo reads.
Meanwhile, the head of the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced when Wu and other sanctuary cities’ leaders will be getting grilled by Congressmembers.
Wu and the mayors of Chicago, Denver, and New York City have confirmed that they will testify at a committee hearing on March 5, Congressman James Comer posted.
“Sanctuary mayors have prioritized criminal illegal aliens over the American people,” Comer added. “They owe Americans an explanation for their policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law by releasing dangerous criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets. These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies.
“They also endanger ICE agents who are forced to take more difficult enforcement actions in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities,” the congressman posted. “We will press these mayors for answers and examine measures to enforce compliance with federal immigration law.”
Wu earlier this week said she had accepted the committee’s offer to testify in D.C.
“I have accepted the Committee’s invitation to share our work to make Boston the safest major city in America,” Wu said in a statement Wednesday evening. “The Boston Police Department partners every day with community groups and all levels of law enforcement to protect our city and our residents, and I look forward to highlighting their hard work and successes.
“I thank Congresswoman Pressley and Congressman Lynch, who serve on the committee, and the entire Massachusetts federal delegation, for their partnership in fighting for families in Boston and across the Commonwealth,” the mayor added.
The committee was initially calling for a Feb. 11 hearing date, but Wu asked for more time as she recovers from giving birth to her third child on Jan. 13.
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