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List of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ removed from U.S. government website following criticism
No Iowa jurisdictions were included on the list, published last week
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A widely anticipated list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” no longer appears on the Department of Homeland Security's website after receiving widespread criticism for including localities that have actively supported the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies.
The department last week published the list of the jurisdictions. It said each one would receive formal notification the government deemed them uncooperative with federal immigration enforcement and whether they’re believed to be in violation of any federal criminal statutes.
The list was published Thursday on the department’s website but on Sunday there was a “Page Not Found" error message in its place.
The list was part of the Trump administration’s efforts to target communities, states and jurisdictions that it says aren’t doing enough to help its immigration enforcement agenda and the promises the president made to deport more than 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal authorization.
The list is being constantly reviewed and can be changed at any time and will be updated regularly, a DHS senior official said.
“Designation of a sanctuary jurisdiction is based on the evaluation of numerous factors, including self-identification as a Sanctuary Jurisdiction, non-compliance with Federal law enforcement in enforcing immigration laws, restrictions on information sharing, and legal protections for illegal aliens,” the official said in a statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that there had been anger from some officials about the list. However, she didn’t address why it was removed.
“Some of the cities have pushed back,” Noem said. “They think because they don’t have one law or another on the books that they don’t qualify, but they do qualify. They are giving sanctuary to criminals.”
The list, which was riddled with misspellings, received pushback from officials in communities spanning from urban to rural and blue to red who said the list doesn’t appear to make sense.
In California, the city of Huntington Beach made the list even though it had filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s immigration sanctuary law and passed a resolution this year declaring the community a “non-sanctuary city.”
Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, Wisconsin, said the inclusion of his community must have been a clerical error. Davel voted for Trump as did 67 percent of Shawano County.
Davel thinks the administration may have confused the county’s vote in 2021 to become a “Second Amendment Sanctuary County” that prohibits gun control measures with it being a safe haven for immigrants. He said the county has approved no immigration sanctuary policies.
Iowans wrote hundreds of letters to national sheriff’s association
No cities or jurisdictions in Iowa appeared on the list, despite concerns expressed by Dubuque County Sheriff Joe Kennedy last month that the county could be included on the list because it hadn’t signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which is an agreement that allows local law enforcement agencies to perform immigration enforcement.
Only one agency in Iowa — the Iowa State Patrol — has signed a 287(g) agreement. Kennedy’s concerns that not signing an agreement would cause Dubuque County to be added to the list stemmed from an email sent by the National Sheriff’s Association to thousands of sheriffs around the country which encouraged them to sign 287(g) agreements because the sanctuary jurisdiction list would be coming out soon.
Escucha Mi Voz, an Iowa-City based nonprofit, has publicly encouraged law enforcement agencies to refrain from signing 287(g) agreements, and has repeatedly asked the state patrol to end its agreement. According to a news release from the nonprofit, it worked with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network to send hundreds of letters from Iowans and people from other states to the National Sheriff’s Association leaders, demanding “accountability and an end to coercive intimidation tactics,” related to the email sent to sheriffs about the sanctuary list and the 287(g) program.
On Saturday — a day before the sanctuary list disappeared from DHS website — the sheriff’s association released a statement publicly denouncing the creation of the list.
“The completion and publication of this list has not only violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement, but it also has the potential to strain the relationship between Sheriffs and the White House administration,” the statement said.
Emily Andersen of The Gazette contributed to this report.
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