The Department of Homeland Security has removed its publicized list of 500 sanctuary cities allegedly impeding federal immigration enforcement.
Each city received a notice that it was considered noncompliant per an executive order by President Donald Trump that demanded such a list. When the list appeared on the DHS website four days ago, the department promised to update it regularly.
By Sunday, the list was no longer available at its original link. Instead, the site read, “The page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable.”
While on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that “we absolutely do” still have the list, but she did not address why it was no longer publicized.
“Some of the cities have pushed back,” Noem said. “They think because they don’t have one law or another on the books that they don’t qualify, but they do qualify. They are giving sanctuary to criminals.”
The original press release announcing the list is still live on the website. At the time, Noem explained her department was “exposing these sanctuary politicians who harbor criminal illegal aliens and defy federal law. President Trump and I will always put the safety of the American people first. Sanctuary politicians are on notice: comply with federal law.”
National Sheriffs’ Association President Kieran Donahue called the list a “disservice” to the 3,000 elected sheriffs his organization represents in a statement Saturday. He predicted the list would result in a “vacuum of trust” that would take years to repair.
“This list was created without any input, criteria of compliance, or a mechanism for how to object
to the designation. Sheriffs nationwide have no way to know what they must do or not do to avoid this arbitrary label,” Donahue said. “The completion and publication of this list has not only violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement, but it also has the potential to strain the relationship between Sheriffs and the White House administration. This is an unfortunate and unnecessary erosion of unity and collaboration with law enforcement and the enforcement of the rule of law at a time when that unity is needed most.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the DHS for comment.
These jurisdictions stand to lose their federal grants and contracts by appearing on the list, per Trump’s order.