(AFP) – US cities that protect their undocumented migrant residents have been thrust into the spotlight by the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, currently targeting Minneapolis. “Sanctuary city” policies are championed by many Democratic politicians but President Donald Trump has insisted that they protect criminals and break the law.
Here is what to know about sanctuary cities:
**- What are they? -**
Sanctuary cities and states are parts of the United States that have passed laws to actively not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, like the sweeping raids and deportation mission underway across the state of Minnesota. The Center for Immigration Studies reports that over 200 US cities or counties in 13 states operate sanctuary policies.
“(This) means they’re not going to be in the business of helping to detain individuals, and they’re also going to discourage — but again, not obstruct — any type of active cooperation with the federal government” on deportations, said Hamline University legal studies and politics professor David Schultz. The sanctuary movement formed in the 1980s when church leaders, politicians on the left, and campaigners came together to help newly arrived migrants fleeing conflicts in Central America.
**- What is Trump doing about them? -**
The policies have brought the locations where they are in force into conflict with the Trump administration, which has previously labelled them “sanctuaries for criminals.” Other sanctuary cities already targeted for headline-grabbing intensive immigration enforcement action have included Democratic-run Chicago and Los Angeles.
Trump’s border chief Tom Homan, who has taken personal control of the immigration sweeps underway in Minnesota, previously said “every sanctuary city is unsafe. Sanctuary cities are sanctuaries for criminals and President Trump’s not going to tolerate it.” “Sanctuary cities are now our priority.”
**- What they mean for migrants? -**
In practical terms, sanctuary policies mean that undocumented migrants are more readily able to obtain identity documents and driving licenses, for example. Some cities also allow those without papers to access certain welfare programs like housing and healthcare. The governor of Minnesota, at the center of the Trump administration’s crackdown, has previously insisted the state is not a sanctuary jurisdiction and has never adopted such legislation.
In August, the Department of Justice nonetheless listed Minnesota as a sanctuary state. Minneapolis, the state’s largest city, openly operates sanctuary policies, and the city’s mayor Jacob Frey has said they keep people safe because “we want people who are undocumented to have the confidence to call 911 without the fear that they’ll get deported.” “That is a safety strategy. That is not an immigration strategy,” he said at a CNN town hall this month.
**- What is their future? -**
Trump’s justice department demanded in a January 24 letter that Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul terminate their sanctuary policies as one of a number of demands for ending the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. Minnesota has sued the Trump administration in an effort to have the marauding immigration raids halted, even if temporarily, citing the letter as evidence of attempted coercion.
Its attorney general argues that the operations breach the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, which protects the sovereignty of the 50 US states. “The attorney general is saying that the ICE operations that are here using these very aggressive tactics are retribution — or an effort to try to force the state of Minnesota to give up its sanctuary policies,” said Schultz. The case would be an important test case and could have an impact on the status of other sanctuary cities and states, he added.
– Gregory WALTON
© 2024 AFP
