ACLU Comment on New Justice Department Grant Conditions

NEW YORK — Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today that going forward the Department of Justice will only award certain law enforcement grants to cities and states that help immigration agents by allowing them free access to local jails and reporting immigrants’ release dates two days in advance.

Omar C. Jadwat, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said:

“This new demand is simply the latest in the Trump administration’s crusade to pit sheriffs and police against the communities they serve. It won’t work. Local law enforcement have good reasons not to sign up for President Trump’s deportation force. Collaborating with federal immigration agents is expensive, it sows fear in immigrant communities, and it destroys the trust that police departments spend years cultivating.

“We urge local governments and law enforcement agencies to stand strong. The law is on their side. The administration cannot force them to help round up immigrants, and it cannot threaten them by inventing new rules out of thin air.

“We also urge President Trump and the Justice Department to give up this crusade. Local police should not be punished for keeping their constituents safe.”