Crime-ridden Chicago sues DOJ over sanctuary cities | Fox News

[jat]

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel sued the Trump administration Monday over its
threat to withhold funds from sanctuary cities, prompting one official
to charge Emanuel is more concerned about protecting illegal immigrants
than legal residents of his beleaguered city.

The showdown over so-called sanctuary cities has been heating up in
recent months as some local governments have refused to work with
federal immigration authorities. Monday's 46-page suit, filed inU.SD.
District Court for the Northern District of Ilinois, named Attorney
General Jeff Sessions as the defendant.

Emanuel argues that the Justice Department wants to slap unfair
conditions on a long-running federal crime prevention grant, the Edward
Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.

“Chicago will not let our police officers become political pawns in
a debate."
- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

“Chicago will not let our police officers become political pawns in a
debate,” a defiant Emanuel said. “Chicago will not let our residents
have their fundamental rights isolated and violated. And Chicago will
never relinquish our status as a welcoming city.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/07/crime-ridden-chicago-sues-doj-over-sanctuary-cities.html

[Byker]

Post by jat
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel sued the Trump administration Monday over its
threat to withhold funds from sanctuary cities, prompting one official to
charge Emanuel is more concerned about protecting illegal immigrants than
legal residents of his beleaguered city.

DOJ fires back at Chicago's sanctuary-city lawsuit threat

August 06, 2017

The Department of Justice on Sunday fired back at Chicago’s plans to sue the
feds for threatening to withhold crime-fighting money to sanctuary cities.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel formally announced Sunday that his city would
file a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration for vowing to block
federal grants to cities that don't comply with federal immigration law.

The Justice Department called out the mayor in its response. “In 2016, more
Chicagoans were murdered than in New York City and Los Angeles combined. So
it’s especially tragic that the mayor is less concerned with that staggering
figure than he is spending time and taxpayer money protecting criminal
aliens and putting Chicago’s law enforcement at greater risk,” department
spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The dispute centers around so-called Byrne grants for cities'
law-enforcement groups. On Thursday, federal officials published an updated
application for the grants, which Emanuel compared to “blackmail.”

Chicago is depending on the $3.2 million from the program to buy police
vehicles. The grants are named in honor of former New York City police
officer Edward Byrne who was murdered in 1988. Still, the grant is just a
tiny fraction of the city's budget, The Chicago Tribune reported.

“Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and
will remain a welcoming city,” Emanuel said. “The federal government should
be working with cities to provide necessary resources to improve public
safety, not concocting new schemes to reduce our crime-fighting resources.”

A requirement added to the application would force local jurisdictions to
report to federal officials about the release of illegal immigrants from
police custody at least 48 hours in advance.

According to the Sun-Times, former high-ranking Justice Department lawyer Ed
Siskel, now Chicago Corporation Counsel, doesn’t believe Sessions has the
authority to change the requirements of the federal grand program because it
was created by Congress, and doesn’t believe he can force local law
enforcement officials to comply with federal immigration policy.

Emanuel announced more details about the lawsuit Sunday, saying withholding
the grants would violate the rights of Chicagoans.

“Chicago will not let our police officers become political pawns in a
debate,” Emanuel said. “Chicago will not let our residents have their
fundamental rights isolated and violated. And Chicago will never relinquish
our status as a welcoming city.”

Emanuel added, “The city of Chicago may be the first to bring a lawsuit, but
I’m also confident we will not be the last.”