Justice Department releases list of sanctuary jurisdictions

The Ministry of Justice published on Tuesday a new list of “sanctuary” jurisdictions which, according to it, have policies, laws or regulations which obstruct the application of federal immigration laws.

Although the list includes the typical objectives of the Trump administration – the city of Los Angeles and the State of California – it is much shorter than a previous list published by the Ministry of Internal Security. And at least a local area which has become a major battlefield on immigration is not on this: the county of the.

The County of Los Angeles did not officially declare himself the sanctuary jurisdiction. However, the county he houses More than 2 million residents who are undocumented or who live with undocumented family members was included on a previous internal security list Jurisdictions of the sanctuary published in May. This list was later deleted of the department’s website.

In a press release, the Ministry of Justice said on Tuesday that the new federal list of 35 cities, counties and states – a much lower figure than the hundreds of jurisdictions that appeared on the previous list of internal security – is “not exhaustive” and “will be updated while the federal authorities collect more information”.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice did not answer specific questions of the Times about the reasons why the County of Los Angeles was not on the list.

“These designations were carried out after an in -depth examination of the laws, orders and executive directives documented by the listed courts,” said the agency on its website. “This initial list of the jurisdictions of the designated sanctuary will be revised regularly, to include additional jurisdictions and delete the jurisdictions that have corrected their policies, practices and laws. Each state, county and city will have the opportunity to respond to its placement on the list. ”

The new list of the Ministry of Justice is only the last effort of the Trump administration to increase the pressure on cities, counties and states which have policies or laws which restrict collaboration with the federal immigration authorities.

But this also represents a more targeted orientation. The previous interior security list, which included most of the 58 California counties, sparked a ridiculous for its mistakes. He even understood the conservative city of Huntington Beach, which broke out of a non -sanctive city A few days after Trump took office and continued California’s state for its sanctuary policies.

Governor Governor’s newsom office rejected the new list of the Ministry of Justice on Tuesday as “another public relations by the federal government to scare people”.

“Like their last unsuccessful attempt from this ridiculous and meaningless list, which they were forced to shoot in a few days due to the reaction, this was created without any contribution or criterion,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, spokesperson for the governor, in a statement on Tuesday. “California is confident in the balance of our law.”

Now that the Ministry of Justice has known its inventory of delinquents, California is one of the 13 states, mainly on the west and northeast coast, which the Trump administration has identified as policies or laws that hinder federal immigration agents.

Only four jurisdictions of the county across the country are included in the list of the Ministry of Justice: Baltimore County, MD.; Cook County, ill.; County of San Diego and County of San Francisco. Three of the 18 cities on the list – Berkeley, Los Angeles and San Francisco – are in California.

“Sanctuary policies hinder the police and put American citizens in danger by conception,” he said. General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Tuesday. “The Ministry of Justice will continue to bring disputes against the courts of the sanctuary and work closely with the Ministry of Internal Security to eradicate these harmful policies across the country.”

In April, Trump signed a executive order“Protecting American communities against criminal foreigners”, ordering the Ministry of Justice to work with internal security to publish a list of jurisdictions which “continue to use their authority to violate, obstruct and challenge the application of federal immigration laws”.

The Ministry of Justice has since brought legal action against a certain number of sanctuary jurisdictions – including the, where the municipal council voted unanimously in November to declare the city a sanctuary competence and prevent any resource in the city from being used for the application of immigration.

In June, the Ministry of Justice filed a federal complaint against the city of Los Angeles, the mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass and the Municipal Council of Los Angeles who described the law of the sanctuary as “illegal”. The officials said the trial: “Refuse to cooperate or share information, even when requested, with the Federal Immigration Authorities”.

“Jurisdictions like Los Angeles who flout the federal law by prioritizing illegal foreigners on American citizens undermines the application of laws at all levels,” Bondi said in a June statement. “It ends under President Trump.”

Last month, Bondi announced a “major victory” for the Ministry of Justice: the city of Louisville, Ky., She said, abandoned her sanctuary policies after receiving a letter from his office.

“This should give the example to other cities,” said Bondi on X. “Instead of forceing us to continue – that we are going to, without hesitation – follow the law, get rid of the sanctuary policies and work with us to repair the illegal immigration crisis.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Justice said in a press release that “the federal government will help any competence that wishes to be withdrawn from this list to identify and eliminate their sanctuary policies.”

County leaders have sometimes taken measures to oppose Trump’s aggressive repression on immigrants. Last week, for example, the County Supervisor Council of Los Angeles voted 4 to 0 to order the county lawyers to write a prescription that prohibits agents, including federal agents, to hide their identity with masks, except for medical reasons or when they work in an infiltration operation.

But the county officials ceased to declare the county a sanctuary jurisdiction. And Tuesday, some leaders of the County of Los Angeles responded publicly to the news that the county no longer made on the official list of jurisdictions of the federal government.

In a declaration to the Times after the Ministry of Justice published its list, the supervisor of the County of the Kathryn Barger, who abstained from last week’s vote on the masked police, said that she had “worked hard to advance a thoughtful approach to governance – that which confirms the law while respecting the dignity of all people”.

“I remain determined to lead with transparency, responsibility and a balanced perspective that favors both public security and community confidence,” said Barger.