ICYMI: Trump Signs 'Sanctuary City' Crackdown; Cambridge Stands Firm

CAMBRIDGE, MA – President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a promised executive order cracking down on sanctuary cities across the country, slashing unknown amounts of federal funding from Cambridge and other cities that shield undocumented immigrants.

Cambridge officials were defiant Wednesday, despite the unknown extent of repercussions.

Details of the order are sparse to far, but it includes withholding federal funds to local governments except those mandated by law for law enforcement, according to the text of Trump's executive order.

Cambridge has been a sanctuary city since 1985, and city officials have said that it will remain one despite the president's threats to pull federal funding.

In a statement Wednesday, the mayor and city manager said such a federal directive would not change Cambridge's status.

"While we do not yet know what impact President Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration will have, as a Sanctuary City, Cambridge will continue to support and promote the safety, health and well-being of all our residents, regardless of immigration status. We encourage every resident – regardless of status – to seek and obtain assistance from the many resources available to the Cambridge Community," Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons and City Manager Louis A. DePasquale said in joint statement. "Today, we remain just as committed to all of our residents as we have been since we first became a Sanctuary City 31 years ago."

Trump's action against sanctuary municipalities was one of two executive orders on immigration issues signed Wednesday, including an order formally moving forward with his campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

The term "sanctuary city" refers to municipalities or counties that don't cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That can include not notifying immigration officials if an undocumented immigrant will soon be released from custody, for example. Other cities has taken more extensive steps to protect immigrants.

Problematically for local officials assessing the impact of Trump's order, the term does not have a hard and fast legal definition. In Massachusetts, whatever definition is put forth through Trump's executive action almost definitely includes self-described sanctuaries such as Cambridge and Somerville, and also sweeps Boston and other municipalities into the mix, as well.

The sanctuary cities-related order reinstates an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program known as Secure Communities, under which ICE would target undocumented immigrants.

The order also directs the State Department to take whatever steps necessary to make countries take undocumented immigrants back — including withholding visas to people from that country.

It also directs that federal funds be withheld from cities and counties that don't cooperate with immigration officials.

Sources tell Patch the most likely target of funding would be the various grants given to local governments through the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

The two departments administer billions in grants — many of which go to law enforcement agencies in the more than 300 cities and counties that have declared themselves sanctuary cities.

These range from Homeland Security's Urban Area Security Initiative, which helps cities prepare for acts of terrorism, to the Edward Byrne Grant Program, which was named for a New York City Police Officer killed in the line of duty and provides funding for a range of programs including crime victim assistance, drug patrols and drug treatment.

Alex Newman and Colin Miner, Patch staff, contributed to this report.

Photo via Boston Women's March by Patch staff