The city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday, claiming that a DOJ policy withholding federal funding to sanctuary cities is unconstitutional and constitutes blackmail.
The suit names Attorney General Jeff Sessions as the defendant. It contests Sessions’ July announcement that the DOJ will not provide Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to cities that espouse “sanctuary city” policies, refusing to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. The city received $2.3 million from the program last year and is expected to receive $3.2 million this year.
“Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and will remain a welcoming city,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “The City of Chicago will continue to stand up to President Trump and his Justice Department to ensure that their misguided policies do not threaten the safety of our residents.”
City officials from New York and Los Angeles are also considering joining the lawsuit, according to NBC News.(RELATED: Sessions Targets Sanctuary Cities As He Faces Pressure From The White House)
The DOJ’s new policy requires that, in order to be eligible for funding, cities must share immigration status data with ICE officials, not bar ICE officials access to police stations, and give ICE officials 48 hours notice before releasing illegal immigrants from detainment.
The lawsuit argues that these requirements are “unauthorized and unconstitutional.” The city claims its “basic right to self government” grants it authority to direct local law enforcement not to work with federal immigration officers.
It also claimed it was already in compliance with the first requirement to share immigration data with the DOJ, claiming that the city simply doesn’t collect immigration data and has nothing to share. Chicago, however, could not claim to be in compliance when Sessions announced the second two requirements.
“The executive branch of the federal government may not arrogate to itself the powers that our Constitution reserves for Congress, on the one hand, or to state and local governments on the other,” the lawsuit claims. “It may not concoct … sweeping new policy conditions that were never approved by Congress and that would federalize local jails and police stations.”
The DOJ was quick to slam the lawsuit, claiming that the city should focus more on reducing murder than protecting illegal immigrants.
“In 2016, more Chicagoans were murdered than in New York City and Los Angeles combined. So it’s especially tragic that the mayor is less concerned with that staggering figure than he is spending time and taxpayer money protecting criminal aliens and putting Chicago’s law enforcement at greater risk,” the DOJ said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “These policies are driven by politics and do not protect their citizens. We will fight them with every lawful tool available.”
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