美国国家公共电台 NPR Chicago To Sue Feds Over Funding Threats To Sanctuary Cities

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AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Washington is pretty quiet these days with Congress out of session. The action today is in Chicago, where the city's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, has filed a lawsuit¹ against the Justice Department. DOJ recently announced they would withhold² millions of dollars in police grant money from so-called sanctuary³ cities. Here's Greta Johnson from member station WBEZ in Chicago.

GRETA JOHNSON, BYLINE⁴: Mayor Emanuel is suing because he says new rules for a federal crime-fighting grant go against the Constitution and the city's values.

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RAHM EMANUEL: Chicago will not let our police officers become political pawns⁵ in a debate.

G. JOHNSON: Last week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said grant applicants⁶ have to share information about undocumented immigrants to federal officials if they want the funding. But Emanuel says he refuses to choose between immigrant rights and having well-funded community police.

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EMANUEL: We're going to act immediately to make sure that there's a ruling by the court, as there has been and other issues as it relates to immigration and refugee policies, where the court has basically stopped the Trump⁷ administration in its tracks.

G. JOHNSON: Chicago was expecting to get $3.2 million from the grant to help with crime fighting this year. Ed Siskel is the city's lawyer.

ED SISKEL: The Department of Justice cannot commandeer local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration law functions. We cannot be forced to violate our residents' constitutional rights.

G. JOHNSON: Chicago police Superintendent⁸ Eddie Johnson also expressed concern about the application guidelines.

EDDIE JOHNSON: Our job is to to investigate crime. Our job is not to investigate immigration status or documentation.

G. JOHNSON: Attorney General Sessions sent letters to four other cities last week, warning them they wouldn't be eligible⁹ for funding, either - Albuquerque, N.M., Baltimore, Md., and San Bernardino and Stockton in California. A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined to comment. For NPR News, I'm Greta Johnson in Chicago.