Sanctuary cities and ICE programs

Attorney General Jeff Sessions publicly addressed federal, state, and local law enforcement on July 12 in Las Vegas about sanctuary cities and efforts to combat violent crime. Sessions cited a study from the University of California Riverside claiming cities with sanctuary policies 'have more violent crime on average than those that don’t.’

Contrary to what Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated in his address to hundreds of law enforcement officials, there is no link to violent crime spike and sanctuary city status. Sessions and his staff appear to have misinterpreted one graph in the study to show a higher crime rate, when in fact the graph showed no relation.

The study specifically states: 

‘We find no statistically discernible difference in violent crime rate, rape, or property crime across the cities. Our findings provide evidence that sanctuary policies have no effect on crime rates, despite narratives to the contrary. The potential benefits of sanctuary cities, such as better incorporation of the undocumented community and cooperation with police, thus have little cost for the cities in question in terms of crime.’ 

What is the definition of a sanctuary city?

A sanctuary city is a city that limits cooperation with the federal government, specifically the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), when enforcing immigration laws. For example, a sanctuary city police officer or city employee will not ask people about their immigration status. Or, if an illegal immigrant is arrested in a sanctuary city, the city will not hold them in jail no longer than their original sentencing in order to wait for the federal government to figure out how to process them.

Pros of being a sanctuary city:

• Illegal immigrants or those with ties to illegal immigrants are more likely to report crimes and cooperate with police.
• Smaller prison populations.
• Spend less time and resources (money) enforcing a federal law.

Cons of being a sanctuary city:

• Loss of federal funding.
• Loss of tax revenue from undocumented persons.
• Missing out on revenue opportunities from ICE programs.

Is my city a sanctuary city?

A lot of cities have formal and informal policies on their sanctuary city status. Some cities are choosing to limit their interaction with federal law enforcement when it comes to immigration laws, some cities are choosing to not actively pursue illegal immigrants, and some only notify federal government if an arrest occurs. A lot of these cities believe enforcing federal law is not their jurisdiction or in their budget, so tend not to pursue further action with ICE.

It is hard to pinpoint an exact list of sanctuary cities because there is no precise legal definition. A lot of cities shy away from labeling themselves as a sanctuary city in fear it will cost them federal funding.

ICE programs

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are cities and police agencies who choose to actively participate with ICE through programs that encourage local agencies to pursue and detain suspected illegal immigrants.

These programs allow local law enforcement to perform ICE work at the local level and more aggressively pursue minor charges for those suspected of being illegal through an intergovernmental agreement.

Some programs allow for revenue generation. For example, federal funding is not withheld from cities participating with ICE. These programs give ICE the ability to place suspected illegal immigrants in county jails and the ability to decide how long and when a detainee is held and released. In return, sometimes ICE pays a daily fee to the jail.

The Criminal Alien Program (CAP) identify, review the records of, or interview people in jail who are accused or convicted of crimes ranging from minor to major.

The Secure Communities (S-Comm) sends fingerprints of arrested individuals to be checked against DHS databases to identify people with an immigration history.

The 287(g) program, created in 1996, extends from detention and jail operations to enforcement. It allows ICE to delegate police and sheriff’s deputies to be trained and certified as immigration officers and gives them the authority to enforce some aspects of federal law. Maricopa County stopped participating in the program because of civil rights violations of American citizens by law enforcement.

Is my city participating in ICE programs?

Currently, ICE has agreements with 59 law enforcement agencies in 18 states. ICE has trained and certified more than 1,822 state and local officers to enforce immigration law. According to an ICE spokesperson, there has been a nearly 50 percent increase in enrollment in the 287(g) program since February when President Trump’s executive order asked the Department of Homeland Security (who oversees ICE) to build more 287(g) partnerships.

Pros of ICE partnership:

• No loss of federal funds for being a sanctuary city.
• Additional federal funds for participation.
• Revenue opportunities for jails.
• Removal of illegal immigrants.

Cons of ICE partnership:

• Enforcing the program may encourage discrimination of American citizens. 
• Community relations with immigrant populations may decline.
• Larger jail populations.
• Control of jail populations is given to ICE.
• Federal responsibility at the expense of local taxpayers.

Participation List - Sanctuary City vs ICE

Below is the list we were able to compile of sanctuary cities and ICE cities. The list was hard to compile.

We cross referenced lists from Center for Immigration Studies, Wikipedia, and the Ohio Jobs and Justice PAC.

ICE does not provide a list of cities participating in CAP or S-Comm, but we did find a list of cities with an agreement to participate in 287 (g).

If you see an error or have an addition, let us know!