US court: Feds can’t withhold funds from sanctuary cities
Posted Feb 15, 2019 1:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court says the Justice Department can’t deny Philadelphia millions in public safety funding because of its status as a “sanctuary city.”
The ruling Friday echoes others that block the department from withholding funds to cities that refuse to co-operate with federal immigration agencies.
City officials have refused to give immigration agents access to prison inmates suspected of being in the country illegally or notify agents before the inmates are released.
U.S. Circuit Court Judge Marjorie Rendell in her ruling says the Justice Department exceeded its power in attaching those conditions to the approximately $2.5 million in annual grants the city receives.
The Associated Press
