PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A city spokeswoman says Philadelphia has no plans to change its immigration policy in response to President Donald Trump signing an executive order stripping federal funding for sanctuary cities.
Ajeenah Amir, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney, says “nothing about the city’s policy is changing.” She says that’s because Wednesday’s order is “simply a directive” and the administration hasn’t said what federal funding they could cut.
Kenney restored the city’s sanctuary status when he took office last year. It bars law enforcement cooperation between city police or prison officials and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Trump’s order to crack down on sanctuary cities could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term based only a request from immigration authorities.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.