CLEVELAND, Ohio - President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities that resist his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
So what exactly is a sanctuary city? "Sanctuary city" is a term applied to cities and counties that choose not to partner with federal officials to enforce federal immigration laws. However, local police do not have the authority to enforce federal law and aiding federal officials is voluntary.
But, according to CNN, here's what Trump said about sanctuary cities before he was elected president: "Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars, and we will work with Congress to pass legislation to protect those jurisdictions that do assist federal authorities."
In Ohio, some lawmakers are trying to punish local governments who don't aid federal officials.
Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel supports a proposed bill to ban sanctuary cities and hold local elected officials who don't comply liable for crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
The bill hasn't been introduced in the Ohio General Assembly yet, but it aims to prohibit Ohio cities from adopting policies that ban or limit local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Should the federal government be able to withhold money from sanctuary cities that refuse to help enforce federal immigration laws?
Join us from noon to 2 p.m. for a constructive conversation about the sanctuary cities debate. Comments will be reviewed by a moderator before they are published.
In a pre-curated conversation, comments are published after they are reviewed - promptly - to ensure they adhere to our community rules, which prohibit indecent, hateful, abusive or harassing comments, personal attacks, vulgar nicknames, personal information, email addresses belonging to others, anything inciting criminal behavior and copyrighted material for which you do not own the rights.
Comments that are not on the topic of this discussion will not be published.
Criticism is fine, but make it respectful.
We seek a robust discussion, and civil discourse requires courtesy.
Further reading:
An explanation on what sanctuary cities are and what Trump plans.
What Ohio Republicans are proposing and how the ban would work.
Ohio Democrats responded to the proposed sanctuary city ban.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
