WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. cities that refuse to step up efforts to focus on crimes committed by undocumented immigrants will not be allowed to participate in a new crime reduction training programme unveiled earlier this year by the Justice Department, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Thursday.
In making the announcement, Sessions singled out four local police departments that had expressed interest in the new Public Safety Partnership Program, saying they first had to answer a list of questions by Aug. 18 confirming they do not have any "sanctuary" policies to shield illegal immigrants from possible deportation by ensuring they will allow federal immigration officials access to local jails.
"By protecting criminals from immigration enforcement, cities and states with so-called 'sanctuary' policies make all of us less safe," Sessions said.
The four police departments that must respond are Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore, Maryland; and San Bernardino and Stockton, California.
Representatives from the police departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sessions' announcement reflects part of a broader policy push by President Donald Trump to crack down generally on illegal immigration.
He has urged Congress to support funding the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the administration has moved to dramatically widen the net of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation.
The National Public Safety Partnership is a new programme launched in June that involves a three-year initiative geared toward areas with high rates of violent crime.
Twelve cities were selected when it was first launched, including Buffalo, New York, Houston, Texas and in Sessions' home state, Birmingham, Alabama.
It is unclear how cities with interest in the programme may respond to the Justice Department's stance, but some municipalities have pushed back against the Trump administration's immigration policies.
A U.S. judge last month refused to remove a block on an executive order by President Donald Trump that would have withheld federal funds from sanctuary cities, which do not use municipal funds or resources to help advance the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez on Thursday called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop making arrests in courthouses amid concerns it has a chilling effect on local policing and is sweeping up those with low-level misdemeanour cases.
Rachael Yong Yow, a spokeswoman for ICE in New York, said the agency's arrests are carried out "on a case-by-case basis."
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York; editing by G Crosse)
