Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, responding Monday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ move to cut off some federal grants to sanctuary cities, said the new guidelines are confusing and unclear while threatening legal action.
The Justice Department recently issued new requirements for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, including that jurisdictions would not be eligible unless they provide 48 hours notice before they “release an illegal alien wanted by federal authorities.”
The city of Los Angeles received $1.55 million from the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program during the federal government’s 2017 fiscal year, according to Feuer.
In a letter to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, Feuer said the new guidelines should not apply to Los Angeles because the city’s police department rarely holds anyone for more than 48 hours.
“Unlike state prisons or Los Angeles County jails, the city’s detention facilities are not used to house inmates serving post-conviction sentences. As such, because Los Angeles rarely, if ever, holds detainees for 48 hours’ time, it is not possible for the city, or other similarly situated cities, to comply with the 48-hour advance notice provision posted in the JAG solicitation, without detaining individuals beyond the point at which they are entitled to release,” Feuer wrote.
Feuer also called the new guidelines “confusing and unclear” and said the city “may be compelled to seek judicial relief” if it doesn’t get a clear answer by Friday. He also said the Bureau of Justice Assistance “would appear to be conditioning federal formula grant applications on a requirement which would place the city of Los Angeles at risk of liability for violating the Fourth Amendment.”
Sessions defended the new policies as necessary to help fight illegal immigration.
“So-called ‘sanctuary’ policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes,” Sessions said when he announced the new guidelines. “These policies also encourage illegal immigration and even human trafficking by perpetuating the lie that in certain cities, illegal aliens can live outside the law.”
–City News Service