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Do Sanctuary Cities Have a Right to Defy Trump? Period 6

Sanctuary Cities Have a Legal Right to Defy the Federal Government

Cesar Vargas

Cesar Vargas, a former national Latino strategist for Bernie Sanders and co-founder of the DREAM Action Coalition, is New York's first openly undocumented lawyer. He is on Twitter (@DREAMerJ_D).

UPDATED DECEMBER 1, 2016, 3:21 AM

It is not only legally defensible but crucial to our national security for cities and states to be allowed to pass and uphold sanctuary laws to assure taxpaying residents — regardless of immigration status — that their local government will protect them from federal overreach.

It is fundamental principle for any local, state or federal sovereign to have discretion over how it will enforce its laws. As the Supreme Court noted in Heckler v. Chaney, an enforcement agency's decisions should reflect “factors which are peculiarly within its expertise.” Localities, not Washington bureaucrats, are best suited to determine local law enforcement according to a multitude of factors, in any given situation.

Local governments have constitutional authority to grant residents more rights and protections.

Even within those areas that the federal government does exercise authority, like immigration, it cannot force state or local governments to strip residents of rights and protections that have been passed by local legislature.

And at a time of eroded trust in police, states and cities must focus on how enforcement can be aided by local cooperation. A study by the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago, found that increased involvement of local police in immigration enforcement in cities only served to erode trust in the legal system among residents.

Should the U.S. use all of its might to protect our neighborhoods from those who threaten violent attacks? Of course. But Donald J. Trump's diatribes against sanctuary cities do not protect Americans — they only seed suspicion and divert attention from real concerns. The immense power of the U.S., and the money of taxpayers, should not be used to persecute, incarcerate and deport an undocumented parent working hard with the hopes of one day seeing her daughter become an attorney.

More broadly, opponents of sanctuary cities — like Kansas's secretary of state, Kris Kobach, the president-elect’s immigration adviser — forget that the U.S. fought against and declared independence from an imperial naval power to protect cherished liberties from an arbitrary central government embodied by an executive that could act by caprice through the throne.

The president-elect has a clear choice: Build trust among all Americans to keep the nation safe or allow disconnected political swindlers to divide the nation for their own careers. When each and every American — including the undocumented — has a stake in national security, in their neighborhoods, this country will have an even firmer foundation for protecting itself against foreign and domestic attacks.

Sanctuary Cities Must Cooperate With Federal Enforcement

Jan C. Ting

Jan C. Ting, a professor at Temple University's Beasley School of Law, is a former assistant commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

UPDATED DECEMBER 1, 2016, 4:27 PM

Immigration laws, like all laws in the U.S., can be criticized and challenged. But those laws enacted by Congress under the authority of the U.S. Constitution need to be respected and enforced. The defiance by some cities of U.S. immigration law and efforts to impede its enforcement, reflect a deeper questioning of our constitutional processes.

Sanctuary cities became controversial after a series of high-profile crimes were committed against innocent victims by illegal immigrants who had been released from detention by local authorities — without notification to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau of the Department of Homeland Security.

Outrage over the issue may have helped Donald J. Trump get elected, as he denounced and promised to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities. They were also an issue in the successful re-election campaign of Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who denounced the sanctuary city policy in Philadelphia, in his own state.

Laws imposed locally for the protection of illegal immigrants interfere with the normal cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

It was right for these politicians to critique sanctuary policies: Laws imposed locally for the protection of illegal immigrants interfere with the normal cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

That is why the Department of Justice under Attorney General Loretta Lynch, under pressure from a Republican Congress, notified sanctuary cities that they must be in compliance with 8 USC Section 1373, which prohibits any agency from restraining the exchange of information among federal, state and local agencies regarding the immigration status of any individual. The attorney general warned that sanctuary cities would not receive Justice Department funding in the current 2017 fiscal year if they did not comply. President-elect Trump and the Republican Congress can be expected to attempt to cut other federal funding to sanctuary cities in 2017.

Any prohibition against state and local officers sharing information and cooperating with federal immigration enforcement is a threat to public safety, and should not be supported by federal funding.

Law enforcement agencies have traditionally relied on each other for support and back-up in carrying out their respective missions: It helps build trust and avoids unhappy surprises. Now, more than ever, with law enforcement officers and agencies under both scrutiny and attack, such coordination and cooperation should be facilitated and encouraged.

DMU Timestamp: January 27, 2017 00:44





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