A court ruled the Trump administration can withhold grants for ‘sanctuary cities.’ What does that mean for Mass.?
"We value our immigrant community and upholding the Constitution and neither of those things is for sale," Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone said.
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Massachusetts’ so-called sanctuary cities are reacting to a federal court ruling that allows the Trump administration to withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants to force states into working with U.S. immigration enforcement.
The ruling, handed down by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan Wednesday, conflicts with three other federal appeals courts and comes after Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, and New York City sued the federal government in 2017.
At the time, the Justice Department said it would withhold grants until the states and city let immigration authorities into jails and gave them more notice when someone who is in the United States illegally is about to be released.
“This decision will allow federal grants to have conditions designed to scare immigrant families,” a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office told Boston.com in a statement. “These tactics by the Trump Administration make it harder for our office and local law enforcement to ensure the public safety of all our residents. We will continue to protect our immigrant communities by defending civil rights and upholding our laws.”
According to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. attorney general is allowed to set conditions for grants. The U.S. Supreme Court has also repeatedly found the federal government has broad power on immigration policies, the court said.
The court ruling overturns a lower court’s decision that mandated the administration release the cash.
“While mindful of the respect owed to our sister circuits, we cannot agree that the federal government must be enjoined from imposing the challenged conditions on the federal grants here at issue,” Judge Reena Raggi wrote in the 2nd Circuit’s decision.
“These conditions help the federal government enforce national immigration laws and policies supported by successive Democratic and Republican administrations,” the court said. “But more to the authorization point, they ensure that applicants satisfy particular statutory grant requirements imposed by Congress and subject to Attorney General oversight.”
At the center of the debate is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program — launched in 2006 — through which Congress annually doles out $250 million-plus in funding for criminal justice initiatives for municipalities and states.
In Massachusetts, the grant assists prosecution and court programs, drug treatment and enforcement programs, and crime victim and witness initiatives, among other programs, according to the state Office of Grants and Research.
The Justice Department called the ruling a “major victory for Americans” but added that the effect of the decision is limited because of the conflicting court rulings.
Other conditions were imposed on the grant program by the department in 2018, but those challenges have not yet gone before the appeals court.
Mayor Marty Walsh’s office said it is currently reviewing those contrasting decisions from around the country, but as of Friday, officials do not believe the latest ruling will have “any direct, immediate impact on Boston.”
Somerville, which became a sanctuary city over 30 years ago, has received approximately $20,000 in Byrne grants in recent years, according to city officials.
“We value our immigrant community and upholding the Constitution and neither of those things is for sale,” Mayor Joe Curtatone said in a statement. “The only change for us is that this is one more disappointment in the White House’s immigration policy.”
In Cambridge, the city has received around $1 million over the years, Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui told WCVB.
“I think it’s unfortunate,” Siddiqui said of the court ruling. “I think though that this administration time and time again has looked to bully our undocumented immigrants.”
She noted that local police do not check immigration status, adding, “Your status does not matter to this city.”
“Given that other courts have ruled differently, the way the law is and works, these types of situations often do go to the Supreme Court,” Siddiqui told WCVB.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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