The Department of Homeland Security has quietly removed from the web a list of 500 sanctuary jurisdictions around the country it accused of “shamefully obstructing” the Trump administration’s deportation plans after pushback from some GOP strongholds that were included on it.
Cities, counties and states across the U.S. were targeted by the department in the list, including those who claimed to be outspoken supporters of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
The National Sheriffs’ Association also issued a statement Saturday criticizing the list, saying that it “lacks transparency and accountability.” Its president, Sheriff Kieran Donahue, said that the list was created without any input from sheriffs and “violated the core principles of trust, cooperation and partnership with fellow law enforcement.”
The list was taken down over the weekend and the original link to the web page now reads: “Page not found.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked about it by Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures.
“I saw that there was a list produced,” Bartiromo said. “Now, the list I don’t see anymore in the media. Do you have a list of the sanctuary cities that are actually hiding illegals right now?”
Noem did not directly acknowledge the list being taken down from the department’s website. The department previously said the sanctuary jurisdictions “are deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities.”
“Some of the cities have pushed back,” she said Sunday. “They think because they don’t have one law or another on the books that they don’t qualify, but they do qualify. They are giving sanctuary to criminals.”
Republican strongholds griped after finding themselves on the list. Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, Wisconsin, said the inclusion of his heavily GOP community must be a clerical error.
“We have no idea how we got on this list whatsoever right at this point,” Davel said. “I think it was just a big mix up, probably some paperwork or something.”
Communities said the list didn’t make sense. In California's Orange County, the city of Huntington Beach was on the list even though it has sued the state over its policies that protect immigrants and its City Council supports Trump. But the nearby city of Santa Ana, which has policies to protect members of its sizable immigrant community, was not.
The Las Vegas government said it believed it was included in the list due to a “misunderstanding.”
“The city of Las Vegas has never designated itself as a sanctuary city,” the statement said. “We are not sure why DHS has classified Las Vegas in the manner it has. We hope to have conversations with those at the federal level to clear up this misunderstanding.”
Immigrants’ rights organizations condemned the administration’s action as “unconstitutional and immoral.”
“Labeling sanctuary policies as ‘lawless insurrection’ is not only inflammatory—it is legally baseless and a reckless distortion of the rule of law,” said Jessica Inez Martínez, director of policy and coalition building at New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.
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