Justice Dept. lists SF as city that ‘violates’ immigration laws; city attorney not phased

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The Justice Department has its eyes on California. The Golden state is one of 13 states the Trump administration is threatening to sue over sanctuary city policies limiting cooperation with immigration authorities.

“It’s not a surprise. Donald Trump and the Trump administration has been coming after so called sanctuary cities since his first term. We had to litigate this issue successfully during Trump 1.0, from his early days of his second administration he has again been doubling down his threats to so called sanctuary cities,” said David Chiu, San Francisco City Attorney

The President signed an executive order in April stating that “some state and local officials nevertheless continue to use their authority to violate, obstruct, and defy the enforcement of Federal immigration laws.” There were three California cities listed out of dozens in this state that identify as sanctuary cities San Francisco was one of them. The city’s attorney who is currently suing the trump administration was not phased.

VIDEO: San Jose police using AI to translate Chief Joseph’s voice into Spanish to build trust

“There is nothing that San Francisco is doing that its interfering or otherwise getting in the way of lawful federal immigration enforcement, but there is nothing in the law that allows this administration to grab our local law enforcement resources and deputize our cops as ICE agents,” said Chiu.

According to the latest census, there is an estimated 44,000 undocumented immigrants in San Francisco. City officials said they want to make sure this community knows there are resources available.

“We encourage folks to connect trusted community organizations making sure they understand what’s actually happening in their communities and getting access to those resources if they are not coming to the city,” said Jorge Rivas, executive director of the SF Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs.

In the letter, Attorney General Pam Bondi said “The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions.” One of the Bay Area cities not listed but that calls itself a welcoming city to immigrants is San Jose. Matt Mahan, Mayor of San Jose said they were glad to be off the list.

MORE: SF’s federal judges evaluate if ICE agents racially profiled raid targets in LA

“We have ICE and other federal agencies that make sure that you comply with federal immigration law. Our police department locally doesn’t carry out that function because we’re not federal law enforcement,” said Mayor Mahan. “As a city, we’ve made very clear. Our priority from a law enforcement perspective is to enforce local crime. I don’t use the term sanctuary. We don’t have a sanctuary policy in San Jose, because some for some people the implication is that we’re providing sanctuary to people who may be committing other crimes. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you’re committing crime in San Jose, we’ll enforce it locally, whether you’re documented or undocumented.”

The Trump administration has threatened all federal funding received by jurisdictions that it considered to be sanctuary cities.

“We receive close to $4 billion of federal funding and all of that is at risk if you believe what the Trump administration says, but our policy is legal it is constitutional,” said Chiu.

For Now, San Francisco City Attorney Chiu says nothing changes for the city.