Newly inaugurated Attorney General Pam Bondi wasted no time weilding the law against Democratic cities who are openly refusing to comply with the country’s immigration authorities in response to President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Just minutes after being sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at an Oval Office ceremony with President Trump in attendance yesterday, Bondi ordered the defunding of jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities Wednesday.
The move would potentially cut off a significant money source for major sancturay cities like New York and Boston.
“[T]he Department of Justice will ensure that, consistent with law, ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ do not receive access to Federal funds from the Department,” Bondi said in a memo from the Justice Department.
“Consistent with applicable statutes, regulations, court orders, and terms, the Department of Justice shall pause the distribution of all funds until a review has been completed, terminate any agreements that are in violation of law or are the source of waste, fraud, or abuse, and initiate clawback or recoupment procedures, where appropriate.”
The memo detailed orders of an immediate 60-day pause on distribution of funds — with a report on further steps due on Bondi’s desk within 45 days. Bondi’s order also says the DOJ “shall not enter into any new contract, grant, or other agreement to provide Federal funding to non-governmental organizations that support or provide services, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through sub-contracting or other arrangements), to removable or illegal aliens.”
New York is the most notorious deviator of this policy as New York’s state government and New York City are sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in deportation proceedings, according to the New York Post.
Other sanctuary states include California and Connecticut — while major cities such as Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, also have such policies.
A relatively small share of funding flows from the Justice Department to New York’s state and local governments, but the declaration could further pinch budgets already tightened to provide housing and services for the surge of migrants who arrived under former President Joe Biden’s more permissive border “parole” policies for asylum seekers.
The federal government is expected to provide more than $8 billion in funding to New York City agencies in fiscal 2025, according to municipal data published by the New York Post.
It’s not the first time Trump has tried to use federal aid to stiffen local law enforcement in sanctuary cities.
At the end of his first term, Trump initiated a broad attempt to defund cities that he said were being too lenient toward crime and anti-police rioting, including New York City, Seattle and Portland.
The move was ultimately scrapped by the Biden administration.
Trump’s deportation drive began shortly after he took office Jan. 20 with a focus on those charged or convicted of crimes — and he’s ordered some migrants sent to the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a deterrent while threatening tariffs on any country that refuses return flights.