Providence, Central Falls push back on Trump targeting them as 'sanctuary cities'. What they say.

Yahoo

4 days ago

A new executive order from President Donald Trump targeting "sanctuary jurisdictions" names Rhode Island and two of its cities – Providence and Central Falls – as jurisdictions the administration says are obstructing federal immigration law.
What does the order say? Trump's executive order says that the jurisdictions named "are deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities. Sanctuary cities protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril."
The order includes about 500 cities and counties across multiple states.
States, cities, counties and territories included on Trump's executive order will receive "formal notification of its non-compliance with federal statutes" and will need to "immediately" review and revise said policies to comply with "federal immigration laws."
The order also states that the jurisdictions identified must "renew their obligation to protect American citizens, not dangerous illegal aliens."
The order also says that the list can be changed and updated "at any time" and that "no one should act on this information without conducting their own evaluation of the information."
When asked about the order, Olivia DaRocha, spokesperson for Gov. Dan McKee, pointed to a legal ruling that dictates how the judiciary and law enforcement interact with ICE in regards to immigration detainers and enforcement.
"As we have always stated, Rhode Island cooperates with ICE on the lawful detention of criminals in accordance with a binding federal court ruling. Morales v. Chadbourne, a 2014 federal court decision, makes clear Rhode Island cannot hold a person in custody based solely on an ICE detainer, as doing so could violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution and expose the state to legal risk."
DaRocha said that the McKee administration has not received any further formal communication or detail from the Trump administration regarding the order or their "sanctuary jurisdiction policy."
In reaction, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley issued the following statement: "Providence's policy remains fully compliant with federal law and does not violate any federal regulations. The city's policy remains the same and will not change: Providence will not proactively collaborate with ICE to provide information."
"The Providence Police are not, and will not, be immigration officers and are better able to keep our community safe with this policy. Providence remains committed to being a safe and welcoming city for all," Smiley said.
Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera issued the following statement: 'Central Falls stands by our values and our community. Our ordinance is legal and makes our city safer––building a stronger foundation for public trust in our local police department."
"Together with the City of Providence, we won this fight before during the first Trump Administration. We filed a lawsuit in 2018 to prevent the Department of Justice from forcing police officers to be agents of immigration and to keep our cities' police funding under the Byrne JAG program," Rivera said. "Our cities won two successive victories in the Federal District Court in Rhode Island, and again in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. We're focused on keeping our community safe, and standing by our city's nationally-awarded, effective community policing work."
The order does not offer specifics on why each jurisdiction was included, but it does include a broad reasoning behind the inclusion of each state.
For Rhode Island, the reason is a "court order requiring state sanctuary requirements."
More broadly, jurisdictions were included on the list because of "compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens," the order reads.
The Providence Journal recently reported that immigration officers have been using federal court orders, rather than civil detainers, to arrest and eventually deport certain immigrants with criminal records.
Typically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has relied on detainers and immigration courts for enforcement actions against immigrants, but because those are civil actions and civil courts, local and state police have traditionally not cooperated with ICE on those enforcement actions. Going through federal court, however, provides an avenue for cooperation and coordination with local law enforcement.
This story has been updated with new information.
Reporters Jack Perry and Kathy Gregg contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Trump sanctuary city executive order names RI, two cities as targets