A major American city is changing its sanctuary policy amid escalating pressure from the Trump administration.
Louisville will begin complying with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 48-hour detainer requests and be removed from the list of sanctuary cities, according to an announcement from Democratic Mayor Craig Greenberg. The mayor said the policy change comes amid ongoing immigration raids and after the Department of Justice notified him that Louisville violated federal law.
“I have been assured by the U.S. Department of Justice that, if we reinstate the 48-hour detainers for inmates who’ve been arrested for crimes, Louisville will be taken off the federal sanctuary city list,” Greenberg stated in a Tuesday press release.
“Accordingly, Metro Corrections will begin honoring 48-hour federal detainers as soon as practical because the stakes are too high,” he went on. “In turn, Louisville will no longer be considered a ‘sanctuary city’ by the federal government.”
While there is no official definition for a “sanctuary city,” the label generally describes any state or locality that prohibits its government officials from assisting or otherwise cooperating with federal immigration agents. Common sanctuary city laws prevent local law enforcement from honoring immigration detainer requests, sharing information with ICE or notifying the agency of an impending release of a wanted illegal migrant.
When an illegal migrant is taken into local custody on criminal charges, their information is shared on a national database and, ultimately, alerts federal immigration authorities. Immigration detainers are requests to keep that migrant in jail long enough for an ICE agent to arrive on scene and assume custody before that individual is released back into the community.
The 48-hour detainer is currently standard practice for Kentucky’s Department of Corrections and was also standard practice for Louisville until 2017, according to Greenberg. Fearing a crackdown in his city and the potential loss of millions in federal funding, the city will now abide by the 48-hour window.
“This change in designation is critical,” the Democrat said. “Cities on the sanctuary city list right now are experiencing a terrifying increase in raids by ICE, including mass raids.”
“In addition, Louisville stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants if we remain classified as a sanctuary city,” Greenberg added.
The announcement follows the Trump administration’s widespread crackdown against illegal immigration and the sanctuary cities refusing to cooperate with deportation officers.
In May, the Department of Homeland Security published a comprehensive list of cities across the U.S. it deemed to be sanctuary jurisdictions. The administration sent each jurisdiction formal notifications of its non-compliance and demanded that its policies be amended. The White House has also waged multiple lawsuits against major sanctuary havens — such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York State.
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated Greenberg’s capitulation in a public statement.
“In a major victory for the Department of Justice, the city of Louisville is dropping its sanctuary city policies as a result of a strong written warning from my office,” Bondi said Tuesday.
“This should set an example to other cities,” the attorney general continued. “Instead of forcing us to sue you — which we will, without hesitation — follow the law, get rid of sanctuary policies, and work with us to fix the illegal immigration crisis.”
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