WASHINGTON, DC – A House of Representatives measure dubbed “No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act” has unsettled many, including prosecutors and local officials, according to Fair and Just Prosecution.
If passed, this Act would “divert billions in federal funds from critical programs such as school nutrition, emergency response, public transit, and disaster relief,” said Fair and Just Prosecution because, as the ACLU said, “local officials refuse to offer up local resources for Trump’s mass deportation and detention agenda.”
Fair and Just Prosecution and speakers at a news conference this past week “emphasized” their concern for the usage of local resources being geared towards political agendas, rather than as resources for the public.
Not only this, Fair and Just Prosecution charged this current situation “also raises serious legal and fiscal concerns. By coercing local governments into an untenable choice, the proposed measure risks undermining public safety and eroding the trust that underpins community well-being.”
“If we truly care about public safety, then we must make it clear that local prosecutors are seen as guardians of the people, not tools of the Trump deportation machine,” stated Ramin Fatehi, Attorney of Commonwealth, City of Norfolk, VA, cited by Fair and Just Prosecution.
At the presser, Angelita Morillo, City Councilor from Portland, OR, said she is very concerned with the Act, and “it is an extremely reckless bill that is going to strip essential federal funding from our communities simply for enacting commonsense policies that keep us safe…The bill is not only an attack on immigrant communities, it’s an attack on all residents.”
Morillo, as cited by Fair and Just Prosecution, adds the bill “could deprive educators, doctors, nurses, and social workers of the resources that they need to do their jobs, and it forces impossible choices on people who simply want to care for their communities,” and can heavily impact the “most vulnerable residents” reliant on federal programs to feed their families.
Fair and Just Prosecution quoted Mary Moriarty, a County Attorney for the Hennepin County of Minnesota, who stated the bill would have direct impact on domestic violence survivors, and how the removal of federal funding from imperative organizations that support these survivors “would silence victims, deter witnesses, and make it harder to seek help or report abuse.”
“Cutting off these funds doesn’t make communities safer—it puts survivors at greater risk and weakens public safety for all,” said Moriarty during the press call, as cited by Fair and Just Prosecution.
Jackie Sartoris, a District Attorney for Cumberland County, ME, said the bill would also impact non-sanctuary cities; she then stated it would do so by forcing already struggling jails “to divert critical jail space away from repeat offenders and those who are violent so that ICE can hold immigrants for minor offenses,” reported Fair and Just Prosecution.
“No survivor of domestic violence should have to fear that their abuser will walk free because our jails will be used to detain people for driving on a suspended license,” stated Sartoris and cited by Fair and Just Prosecution.
