Fung: We Will Not Be A Sanctuary State

CRANSTON, RI—Mayor Allan Fung, Republican candidate for governor, will notify federal immigration when a criminal who entered the U.S. illegally is in custody, his campaign said Friday.

"The number one responsibility of our government, whether it's the City of Cranston or the State of Rhode Island, is protecting our citizens," Fung said in a press release. "We have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, under Governor Raimondo, Rhode Island had the highest murder rate in the region in 2016. The steps we have taken this week ensure that criminals who are here illegally will be identified to federal authorities, so that they cannot continue to commit crimes in our city."

Fung signed an agreement with the Department of Justice, his campaign said.

He went on to repudiate sanctuary city and state policies, which he partly blamed for the opioid epidemic.

"We will not be a sanctuary state," Fung added, "and I will fight against sanctuary cities like Providence. Governor Raimondo's policies at the Department of Corrections are creating an unsafe situation for our families. We need only look at the Ramon Delossantos case where a repeat drug offender, in this country illegally, was not reported to ICE upon leaving the ACI, and went right back to becoming one of the state's biggest opioid kingpins within a year."

His statement also referenced a lawsuit which Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza is bringing against the federal government over the potential loss of federal grants, if the sanctuary city policy continues.

Elorza and Central Falls Mayor James Diossa are suing the Justice Department over "new, inappropriate conditions on certain public safety grants for law enforcement," the mayor's office said in a press release.

"In a change of policy, DOJ has imposed new conditions this past year that must be met by states and local municipalities in order to receive this grant funding," Elorza's office said. "New conditions include the certification of compliance with 8 U.S.C. § 1373, a federal statute that bars restrictions on federal-local sharing of immigration status information; unlimited access to local police stations and law enforcement facilities by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel to interrogate arrestees; and the requirement that cities provide DHS with at least a 48 hour notice prior to an arrestee’s release, which would require detaining residents longer than is permissible under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution."

State Atty. Gen. Peter Kilmartin has joined a separate lawsuit (with six other states) over the grants, his office said.

"As a result of the Trump administration’s actions, Rhode Island alone could lose approximately $767,000 in Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) funds for Fiscal Year 2017; the seven states that sued could lose a total of nearly $25 million," his office said. The state had until Friday (Aug. 10) to sign but reached an agreement, which "holds the money in abeyance pending the outcome of the lawsuit on the merits, which in essence means that while we have not 'lost the money,' the State cannot use the funds (and DOJ cannot disburse the money to other jurisdictions)," Kilmartin's office said. But the Central Falls and Providence JAG grants are separate.

Courtesy Photo: Mayor Fung's office