On Thursday, May 29, the Department of Homeland Security published a now-unavailable list of more than 500 regions across the country considered to be “sanctuary jurisdictions.” This list was divided between counties and cities, listing San Diego County and select cities in the county such as Chula Vista, Santee, and Vista.
The Trump administration currently defines “sanctuary jurisdictions” as cities and counties that are “obstructing immigration enforcement” and impeding recent mass deportation efforts by allegedly failing to alert United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials about immigrants wanted for deportation. The Associated Press writes, “There’s no clear definition of what a sanctuary jurisdiction is, but the term generally applies to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.”
The DHS determined if a jurisdiction qualified for the list based on whether the city or county:
- Identifies itself as a sanctuary jurisdiction.
- Complies with federal enforcement of immigration laws.
- Relays information regarding immigrants to immigration officials.
- Offers protections to immigrants without legal status.
It is unclear to what extent or how many requirements a city or county had to meet to be included in the list.
As of Sunday, June 1, following criticism from the National Sheriff’s Association for its inclusion of a list of alleged “noncompliant” sheriffs, the list is no longer available on the DHS website.
The DHS compiled this list in compliance with President Donald Trump’s April 28 signing of Executive Order 14287. This order asked the DHS to create a list of jurisdictions that interfere with the Trump administration’s immigration policies and to pursue legal action against these jurisdictions, such as revoking federal funding to these cities and counties, which the DHS has not yet done.
According to Fox 5, San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert said that San Diego is not a sanctuary city but a “welcoming city.” Ferbert views the Trump administration’s previous executive order and the DHS list as a political move to pressure cities into enforcing federal immigration laws.
“We suspect [the DHS list] is going to be used as additional threats and fear tactics to threaten federal funding that the city relies on,” Ferbert said to KPBS.
In early March, San Diego joined a coalition of cities from across the U.S. in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for retaliating against cities that don’t comply with federal immigration enforcement.
“By joining this lawsuit alongside 15 other local jurisdictions, we’re making it clear to the administration that we won’t back down in the face of their threats and we will defend our residents while upholding the state and federal laws that protect them,” a statement from Ferbert read.
The lawsuit based its argument on Senate Bill 54, which limits local governments’ involvement in federal immigration enforcement. Trump’s threats of withdrawing federal funds to these cities would therefore be unconstitutional.
“Immigration is a federal responsibility, and federal agents should be doing that work,” Ferbert told Fox 5.
The lawsuit successfully obtained an injunction, which prevents the Trump administration from using the designation of “sanctuary jurisdictions” to withhold federal funding from cities on the list.
