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Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner delivers her 2017 State of the City Address at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017.
(Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)
President Donald Trump plans to take steps to deliver a campaign promise to tighten U.S. immigration policies Wednesday, including the building of a wall along the southern border and threatening "sanctuary cities" like Syracuse.
According to the Associated Press, Trump plans to curb funding of cities that don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Such a measure could cost some individual jurisdictions millions of dollars in grant money.
Mayor Stephanie Miner said earlier this month that Syracuse is now and will remain a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants.
"I promise you that as long as I am mayor, the resources of this city, including the Syracuse Police Department, will not be used to help enforce federal anti-immigrant policies," Miner said, earning a standing ovation. "As long as I am mayor, Syracuse will be a sanctuary city for vulnerable families who had the misfortune of being born in a war-torn corner of our world."
Nationwide, more than 300 cities are considered sanctuaries, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, with policies barring municipal employees from turning over residents or information on them to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
USA Today reports Trump will have broad presidential powers to crack down on sanctuary cities, including federal lawsuits and the withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants. Federal funds made up 10 percent of New York City's $80.5 billion budget in 2015, according to the Washington Post.
If Sen. Jeff Sessions is confirmed as attorney general, he may be able to sue cities on the grounds that they are violating federal law by refusing to cooperate with ICE. However, the Post reports the law doesn't require local authorities to detain illegal immigrants at the request of federal officials.
"It's a county's policy around assistance with deportations that gauges how much at risk any immigrant is in terms of being filtered into this pipeline that Trump and company have promised," said Kemi Bello, communications director at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
In addition to executive actions against sanctuary cities, Trump is also expected to sign for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and announce possible restrictions on the flow of refugees to the United States, such as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries. An official told the AP that additional actions will be announced over the next few days.
"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump promised on Twitter Tuesday.