The city of Philadelphia is suing U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the Justice Department's proposal to restrict grants to local governments in response to sanctuary city policies, The Hill reports.
The department unveiled changes to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which provides funds to local and state governments. President Donald Trump's administration now requires that applicants give Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials access to undocumented immigrants who've been detained by local law enforcement.
Philadelphia follows three other cities, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, in taking legal action over the new conditions, The Associated Press reports.
"As far as we can tell, these unprecedented grant conditions are purely political," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, said when announcing the lawsuit in a statement on Wednesday. "The Trump administration claims that it is imposing these to keep Philadelphians safer, but the facts don't lie. Philadelphia isn't breaking federal law."
City Solicitor Sozi Pedro Tulante added, "Fundamentally, the attorney general cannot use this vital law-enforcement funding as a way to coerce Philadelphia into implementing federal immigration policy and, in turn, heighten fear and anxiety among our immigrant residents," according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
"The Justice Department's immigration-related conditions have nothing to do with strengthening the city's criminal justice system, which is what the Byrne JAG program is all about. We are therefore asking a court to intervene and to recognize that the attorney general lacks the authority to impose any of these conditions," he added.
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