Federal authorities publish list of ‘uncooperative’ sanctuary cities

Officials are speakingout against an federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement list they say is aimed at shaming communities that identify as sanctuary cities and towns.

The 35-page report calls out more than 100communities, including Boston, New York City and Philadelphia, and says they are “uncooperative” with the Trump administration’s efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants.

Communities with so-called sanctuary policies often choose not to detain illegal immigrants at the request of ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, unless the individuals are convicted of serious crimes or are wanted under a federal warrant.

The ICE report details 206 instances, including some in New York City and Philadelphia, betweenJan. 28 and Feb. 3, when federal “detainer”requests were denied.

A detainer is a requestmade by ICE to local authorities to hold an undocumented immigrant in custody for up to 48 hours “to allow DHS to assume custody for removal purposes.”

Proponents of santuary cities say their policies promote safer communities and trust between the police and the public, and preserve families.

The report, which ICE says will be updatedweekly, was prompted by a January executive order in which Trump promised a crackdown on communities that promote sanctuary policies. The president has threatened to withhold federal funding from such communities.

Several offiicials pointed out inaccuracies in the report after it was published Monday. ICE has made 14 corrections so far.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza told the Associated Press that while Rhode Island does not generally honor ICE detainer requests, it was included on the list over a non-binding city resolution from 2011, which Elorza claimed wasn’t about detainers.

“They cast a very broad net in who they included in this list. We’re all still trying to figure out what is accomplished by this list, and also how it’s going to be used,” he said.

Other cities where sanctuary policies instructing law enforcement not to comply with detainer requests in the case of illegal immigrants who have either not committed a crime or are nonviolent offenders exist, were not included on ICE’s list, WGBH reported.

The debate on how to deal with the 11 million undocumented immigrants catapulted back into the national spotlight Tuesday during a White House news briefing.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer discussed the rape of a Rockville High School student, allegedly by two undocumented immigrants. He used the example from the Maryland school to urge state and local officials to examine their immigration policies.

“The president recognizes that education is a state-run and a local-run issue, but I think it is cause for concern what happened there,” Spicer said. “And I think the city should look at its policies, and I think that this is something authorities are going to have to look at.”