Trump's sanctuary cities list disappears after sheriffs' criticism, 12 Mass. cities on the list

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4 days ago

In the face of stiff criticism from a national law enforcement group, the Trump administration withdrew a list published last week of states and cities across the country it said were violating federal law by providing sanctuary to undocumented immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday identified more than 500 communities, including Boston and 11 others in Massachusetts, that it said were 'sanctuary cities' — localities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
But by Sunday, the link to the list on the department's website led only to an empty webpage.
The publication drew swift pushback from the National Sheriffs' Association, a group representing more than 3,000 elected sheriffs nationwide, including some whose departments were confused why they had ended up on the list.
'The Sheriffs of this country feel betrayed,' Kieran Donahue, the president of the association, said in a statement Saturday.
He said the list lacked input, criteria or a mechanism for appeal, leaving sheriffs with 'no way to know what they must do or not do to avoid this arbitrary label.'
The publication 'violated the core principles of trust, cooperation and partnership with fellow law enforcement,' Donahue said, creating a 'vacuum of trust' between federal and local law enforcement 'that may take years to overcome.'
'The list is being constantly reviewed and can be changed at any time and will be updated regularly,' a senior Homeland Security official said in response to a request for comment Monday morning.
Federal officials said last week that the 'lawless' jurisdictions identified on the list would be formally notified of the government's belief that they were noncompliant with the law. They would be ordered to change local policies to match the Trump administration's stance on immigration issues or risk losing federal funding or contracts.
Proponents of sanctuary policies say they are not only legal but beneficial to public safety as well. By avoiding cooperation with immigration agents on noncriminal matters, they argue undocumented residents feel more comfortable interacting with police, leaving cities safer as a whole.
Read more: Sanctuary or not, immigrant fears transcend borders in Chelsea, Revere
The Trump administration disagrees.
'These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens,' U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement Thursday accompanying the list's publication.
The list of sanctuary jurisdictions included communities in nearly three dozen states, including all six in New England. In Massachusetts, the communities identified by the Trump administration were:
Amherst
Boston
Cambridge
Chelsea
Concord
Holyoke
Lawrence
Newton
Northampton
Orleans
Somerville
Springfield
Boston's sanctuary policy has frequently been singled out by the Trump administration.
Under city law, Boston police are barred from asking members of the public about their immigration status or assisting federal agents with civil immigration enforcement. However, the law does not prevent police from assisting immigration authorities with criminal investigations into drugs, weapons, human trafficking or other matters.
Read more: Boston's Trust Act: What it is and how it works
The government said Massachusetts as a whole also qualified as a sanctuary jurisdiction, potentially referring to a ruling from the state's highest court barring any police department from detaining someone at the request of federal officials without a warrant.
The government further listed every county in the state as a sanctuary jurisdiction, excluding Hampden County.
Donahue said Trump administration officials could not explain to his organization who developed or verified the list before its publication.
In public statements, administration officials were vague on the precise criteria behind the list.
They said it was based on a number of factors, including whether the communities self-identified as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they comply with federal immigration law, whether they had restrictions on information sharing with the immigration enforcement authorities and what protections they provide people in the country without documentation.
The sheriffs' association 'believes that the criteria for evaluation used by DHS must be published immediately, and they must provide a legitimate reason to evaluate those not cooperating with ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies,' Donahue said. 'These are not just common-sense efforts; they are urgent necessities.'
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Read the original article on MassLive.