Sanctuary Jurisdictions and Select Federal Grant Funding Issues: In Brief

Summary

On January 25, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 13768, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.” Among other things, the EO raises questions regarding whether, and to what extent, federal agencies will withhold federal grant funds that would have otherwise been awarded to a designated “sanctuary jurisdiction.” Under the EO, the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is directed to designate a jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction at his discretion, and to the extent consistent with law, for those jurisdictions found to have willfully refused to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373, “Communication between government agencies and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.”

Among other things, the EO raises questions regarding potential restrictions of federal grant funding for sanctuary jurisdictions. This report discusses several questions that might be raised regarding the implementation of the executive order by federal grant-making agencies (also known as “federal awarding agencies”) and the impact on federal grant funding for designated sanctuary jurisdictions.

Because of the complexity of implementing a centralized policy such as the EO through the decentralized structure of federal grants administration practices, there is uncertainty in determining the impact of the EO on federal grant funding for sanctuary jurisdictions. This could be affected by the discretion exercised by the Attorney General and the Secretary in defining a “federal grant,” determining which programs are exempted because of providing necessary funding for law enforcement purposes, and determining what constitutes a “sanctuary jurisdiction.” The impact of the EO on federal grant funding could also be affected by how federal grant awarding agencies utilize discretion in administering the grant programs, including review of eligibility and conditioning federal grant awards.