WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration on Tuesday strengthened its crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities, announcing a new policy that says local governments will lose some federal grants if they do not honor federal requests to detain illegal immigrants and allow immigration agents access to local jails.
The new policy, announced by the Department of Justice, will apply to all cities that get Justice Department grants.
Under the policy, cities will have to meet three conditions if they want the grants: honoring requests to hold detainees for at least 48 hours; allowing agents access to local and state jails, in order to pick up undocumented people who are being released; and compliance with a law that prohibits any jurisdictions from stopping the exchange of information about an individual's immigration status.
The policy, announced as Attorney General Jeff Sessions comes under extraordinary criticism from President Donald Trump, seems guaranteed to garner strong opposition from cities and the courts. In some states, courts have held that state and local authorities cannot detain people who are not charged with a crime simply because of a federal detainer request.
