February 15, 2017
Are Sanctuary Cities in Danger?
A Feet in 2 Worlds Podcast
“Sanctuary” communities are under attack from the White House. Under an executive order issued on January 25th, the Federal government declares that it will “to the extent consistent with law” and public safety withhold Federal grants to cities, towns, counties and states that protect undocumented immigrants from being detained and deported.
There are roughly 400 such local jurisdictions around the country, and their responses have ranged from defiance to compliance. San Francisco filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the executive order, while Miami’s mayor suspended a city policy of non-cooperation with Federal immigration authorities, citing the threatened loss of Federal funds.
Many communities are looking to strengthen their sanctuary policies. But it’s unclear how far they can or will go to protect undocumented immigrants within their borders, just as it is uncertain how broad the Federal government’s power to rein in sanctuary jurisdictions actually is.
In this podcast, Feet in 2 Worlds Executive Producer John Rudolph speaks with:
Commissioner Nisha Agarwal of New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
Lena Graber, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco.
Kemi Bello, an undocumented immigrant from Nigeria and a “delayed action for childhood arrivals” (DACA) recipient who works as Communications Manager for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
Feet in 2 Worlds (Fi2W) is a project of the Center for New York City Affairs. It works with immigrant journalists to produce news stories that express perspectives rarely featured in the mainstream press. Fi2W has trained more than 100 immigrant and ethnic media journalists who work at media outlets including The New York Times, the Associated Press, and public radio.
Photo credit: Ryan Rwozimek