The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a preliminary list of sanctuary jurisdictions this past Thursday. The webpage where the list resided was inexplicably taken down just days later.
The sanctuary jurisdictions list was issued as directed by President Donald Trump's related executive order.
No state escaped the list. At least one city or county was identified in each state. In some cases the entire state was included.
In fact, there were 13 states labeled as "Self-Identification as a State Sanctuary Jurisdiction." Those states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
Additionally, there is Rhode Island, which is listed as "Court Order Requiring State Sanctuary Requirements."
DHS' list cites 403 counties spanning 32 states. The total number of cities is 240 across 30 states. Four states that do not have any individual cities listed include Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, and North Dakota.
Five North Carolina counties are on DHS' list of sanctuary jurisdictions: Buncombe, Chatham, Durham, Orange, Watauga.
Note: Watauga disappeared from the list the same day it was published.
Per the list compiled by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), there are nine in North Carolina. Including the counties above, CIS adds Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg and Wake Counties.
Of note, Forsyth County has had multiple illegal alien arrests just in the past two months, all of which have had ICE hold detainers placed on them.
More To The Story
When More To The Story reported on sanctuary cities/jurisdictions in North Carolina last fall, Jason Johnson, who runs North Carolinians For Immigration Reform and Enforcement (NCFIRE) sent me more details and outlined various cities and counties violating not only federal law, but a 2015 state law.
Johnson also took note of my post on X about the DHS sanctuary jurisdiction list and, again, included more details such as a list spanning 13 counties where Johnson claims sheriff's offices are not honoring detainers.
In addition to California as a whole being on the list, so is New York — and for good reason.
New York state enacted a law in 2011 barring law enforcement from complying with ICE detainer holds on illegal aliens unless a judicial warrant was issued on the individual for a past conviction of a serious crime in the last five years.
Under the Trump administration, the DOJ has filed 15,000 immigration cases charging individuals with violating federal immigration law in order to get around sanctuary jurisdiction laws like New York's.
Trump's DOJ filed a federal suit in February targeting New York state's 2019 “Green Light Law,” which allows an illegal alien to get a driver's license.
All of these actions are part of the work being done by theDOJ's Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group, which was created in February of this year.
The working group's express purpose is to tackle the issue of sanctuary jurisdictions and cut their funding for noncompliance with federal law. The working group is also working on identifying NGOs facilitating illegal immigration and supporting illegal aliens and to cut their funding.
DHS and ICE have also been working to increase the number of law enforcement agencies participating in the 287g program.
Take a look at that program:
