In order to be removed from the Trump administration’s list of sanctuary cities, Louisville, Kentucky, will be reverting to a pre-2017 policy that gives more notice to the Department of Homeland Security when an inmate with an immigration detainer is set to be released.
Democratic Mayor Craig Greenberg, in remarks published to the city’s website, said he received a letter from the Department of Justice last month explaining that Louisville had been deemed a sanctuary city and could be punished because it was “in violation of federal law for not holding inmates in custody at our jail for up to 48 hours.”
Detainers are a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to both notify the agency “as early as possible” before releasing a “removable alien” and to hold a “removable alien” for up to 48 hours beyond when they would be normally released, so the Department of Homeland Security can take custody.
Greenberg said the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections notifies DHS about five to 12 hours before an inmate is released, but prior to 2017 Louisville gave a 48-hour notice to DHS.
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“I have been assured by the U.S. Department of Justice that, if we reinstate the 48-hour detainers for inmates who’ve been arrested for crimes, Louisville will be taken off the federal sanctuary city list,” Greenberg said. “Accordingly, Metro Corrections will begin honoring 48-hour federal detainers as soon as practical because the stakes are too high.”
Part of Greenberg’s capitulation, he said, was to avoid a loss of federal funding and because “cities on the sanctuary city list right now are experiencing a terrifying increase in raids by ICE, including mass raids.”
“Just look at what’s gone on in LA and other cities across the country,” he added.
President Donald Trump, after promising “mass deportations” on the campaign trail last year, has overseen an intense crackdown on immigration, including the detention and deportation of large numbers of undocumented immigrants. Sanctuary cities like Los Angeles have been the subject of an aggressive increase in ICE raids.
After one such wave of raids earlier this year, which resulted in mass protesting, Trump deployed the National Guard and hundreds of Marines.
“I’ve talked with leaders within our immigrant community before I made this decision. I heard their fears loud and clear about current federal policies and ICE actions,” Greenberg said. “I also heard that they want Louisville off the federal sanctuary city list. This change removes Louisville from that list.”
Greenberg also said Louisville stood to lose “hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants if we remain classified as a sanctuary city. Many of those funds are used to provide food, rental assistance and medical care to our most vulnerable residents. I will not risk hurting them either.”
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