The city of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Jeff Session Wednesday, claiming Sessions made an unconstitutional order in July by withholding funding from sanctuary cities.
Philadelphia’s lawsuit joins similar litigation from Chicago, San Francisco, and the state of California. Sessions’ July order created additional requirements for cities to receive funds from the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, namely that they must work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to combat illegal immigration. Philadelphia, a sanctuary city, is suing to recover the $2.2 million it would have received if not for Sessions’ order, Metro US reported Wednesday.
“The Justice Department’s immigration-related conditions have nothing to do with strengthening the City’s criminal justice system, which is what the Byrne program is all about,” City Solicitor Sozi Pedro Tulante said in a statement. “We are therefore asking a court to intervene and to recognize that the Attorney General lacks the authority to impose any of these conditions.”
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) new policy requires that cities must share immigration status data with ICE officials, not bar ICE officials from accessing police stations, and give ICE officials 48 hours notice before releasing illegal immigrants from detainment.
Like Chicago, Philadelphia claimed it was already in compliance with the requirement to share immigration data with DOJ, citing that the city simply doesn’t collect immigration data and has nothing to share. Since it is not in compliance with the latter two requirements, however, the city asks that a judge rule they are unconstitutional.
“The Trump administration claims that it is imposing these to keep Philadelphians safer, but the facts don’t lie. Philadelphia isn’t breaking federal law,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a Wednesday statement. “We will not let this Administration interfere with our longstanding efforts to bring members of Philadelphia’s immigrant community from the shadows.”
The DOJ was quick to criticize the lawsuit.
“When criminal aliens are returned to the streets instead of sent home, public safety is undermined,” DOJ spokesman Devin O’Malley told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Murder rates are on the rise in Philadelphia, but today the City joined other jurisdictions in doing a disservice to their citizens by protecting criminal aliens rather than law-abiding citizens.”
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