Response Center
Real-time analysis of Trump-Vance administration actions, to support legal challenges and provide resources for the pro-democracy community.
The Trump-Vance Administration is trying to
Attack immigrant-friendly cities and states and immigrant-serving nonprofits
Let others know:
This order threatens to defund cities and states that choose not to spend their resources on immigration enforcement, prosecute state and local officials, and cut funding to NGOs.
Sanctuary Jurisdiction Directives
N/A
February 5, 2025
This memo outlines how the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be targeting states and localities that choose not to expend their resources on federal immigration enforcement, which DOJ inaccurately describes as "willfully fail[ing] to comply with ... applicable federal immigration laws." First, DOJ will require all states and localities applying for federal law enforcement grants to certify their compliance with narrow statute that prohibits states and localities from adopting a policy that prevents state or local officials from sharing with or receiving from the federal government "information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual." Existing "sanctuary" policies do not violate section 1373 and adding additional conditions to DOJ grants was widely found to be unlawful in the first Trump administration. Second, the memo directs DOJ to identify and pause for 60 days all funding to organizations that "support or provide services to removable or illegal aliens," while the Department reviews the funding to determine whether to end it entirely. The memo does not acknowledge the Department's obligation to spend money appropriated by Congress for the purposes identified by Congress. Finally, the memo threatens to prosecute state and local officials who decline to engage in federal immigration enforcement under a federal conspiracy statute, a statute that criminalizes the harboring or concealing of unauthorized noncitizens, and the non-criminal section 1373.
People are fighting back
How communities are responding
Democracy 2025 and our partners are ready to counter threats to people's rights, justice, and equality in courtrooms and communities across the country. Learn more about how people and communities are responding to this harmful policy:
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