Abstract
During both its first and second terms, the Trump Administration has taken aim at so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions to try to encourage or force cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement. In addition to targeted immigration enforcement efforts, the Administration has waged a legal and public media campaign against states, counties, and cities that the Administration views as sanctuary jurisdictions and has attempted to withhold a wide variety of federal funds from those jurisdictions to pressure them to change their policies. While there is no definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction in any federal statute or executive order, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently published a press release that defines sanctuary jurisdictions as those states, counties, and cities that take actions or have policies “that impede enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
Recommended Citation
Cindy G. Buys,
Sanctuary Standoff: Constitutional Fault Lines in Immigration Enforcement,
70
St. Louis U. L.J.
(2026).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol70/iss4/8