II. “SANCTUARY” POLICIES IN AN ERA OF MASS DEPORTATION Part I described the rise of crimmigration and introduced the major components of Trump’s deportation apparatus—CAP, administrative warrants, 287(g), Secure Communities, and other joint operations.166 Collectively, these programs generate significant pressure on localities to make their law enforcement resources available for federal immigration enforcement. In Part II, we turn to an analysis of the policies of “sanctuary” jurisdictions in the United States. Specifically, we focus on how these policies function to protect community members and limit the involvement of local government institutions in furthering the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.167 In conducting our analysis, we collected a set of over 500 sanctuary policies spanning nearly four decades. To aid other researchers, we have made full text versions of the all of the laws and policies we collected available in an accompanying online library.168 Our library of sanctuary policies focuses on those policies that explicitly address the degree to which local criminal justice systems and actors interact with federal immigration enforcement.169 We relied on a range of techniques to identify and collect our set of sanctuary policies for analysis. We identified many policies by scouring academic sources,170 issue papers,171 news articles,172 and online collections of policies accumulated by advocacy groups across the political spectrum.173 We also obtained copies of the policies through public records requests, communications with practitioners, and internet and other online research.174 Because our authors have been engaged in scholarship, research, and advocacy relating to sanctuary policies, many policies (particularly those enacted in the last decade) were already known to us. Although we cannot claim to have surveyed every sanctuary policy, we believe our collection of policies provides the largest single collection available of the various policies that have been enacted since the 1980s. Based on our review of the collected policies, we identified five principle types of legal and policy initiatives adopted by jurisdictions. These five types, which we discuss in Part II, are: (1) barring investigations into immigration violations; (2) limiting compliance with ICE detainers and administrative warrants; (3) limiting ICE’s access to local jails; (4) limiting disclosure of sensitive information; and (5) declining to participate in joint operations.175 We introduce each category of policy, drawing on examplesof state laws, municipal ordinances and resolutions, and internal sheriff and police regulations and policies.176 The Trump presidency has driven localities to clarify their role in immigration enforcement. Local officials must consider how best to respond to the divisive racial tenor of the Trump administration’s immigration policy pronouncements within their communities. But whereas some jurisdictions have newly embraced the sanctuary policies we discuss in this Part since the election, others have had such policies in place for decades.177 In addition, some policies, such as detainer policies, developed in response to developments in federal law or policy that pre-date the Trump presidency. Regardless of when these policies were enacted, they share some common characteristics. For example, the Trump administration has sought to bring sanctuary jurisdictions to heel by claiming that their policies violate 8 U.S.C. § 1373,178 a provision of the federal code that prohibits localities from preventing their employees from exchanging citizenship or immigration status information of individuals with federal officials.179 But, as our description of the policies in this Part makes clear, many disentanglement policies do not restrict the sharing of information about citizenship or immigration status and therefore cannot run afoul of § 1373.180 Under federal law, localities have discretion to decide whether they will engage in local policing activity that may result in deportation. A. Barring Investigation of Civil and Criminal Immigration Violations Perhaps the most common type of sanctuary policy is a requirement that police not investigate civil or criminal immigration violations.181 These types of internal policies, which have been called “don’t police” policies,182 are important given that local law enforcement officers can act as deportation “gatekeepers” when they arrest noncitizens.183 Such policies generally prevent law enforcement from asking questions about immigration status or otherwise enforcing civil immigration law violations.184 Some “don’t police” policies go further and prevent police from investigating criminal immigration law violations.185 An early example of a “don’t police” policy is the LAPD’s “Special Order Number 40,” issued by Chief Daryl Gates in 1979.186 Special Order 40 prohibits officers from “initiat[ing] police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person.”187 In addition, it prevents officers from arresting or booking persons for illegal entry into the United States under 8 U.S.C. § 1325.188 Similarly, in 1989, San Francisco adopted a “City and County of Refuge” ordinance that provides that state and local officials “have no duty . . . to enforce the civil aspects of the federal immigration laws.”189 More recently, in 2008, the City of Hartford, Connecticut enacted an ordinance restricting any employee from “inquir[ing] about . . . confidential information,” including immigration status, except when “necessary to the provision of the city service in question.”190 Some states have also restricted their police agencies from enforcing civil immigration law. In 1987, Oregon passed a state law prohibiting law enforcement throughout the state, including political subdivisions of the state, from enforcing civil immigration law.191 In 2014 the State of Vermont passed a law requiring that all local law enforcement agencies adopt a “model fair and impartial policing policy” that prohibits policing civil immigration violations.192 Among other restrictions, the model policy adopted in 2017 specifies that local law enforcement in Vermont may not: (1) ask for a “person’s civil immigration status unless it is necessary to the ongoing investigation of a criminal offense”; (2) use suspicion of a person’s undocumented status as a basis for initiating contact, detaining, or arresting that person; or (3) attempt “to enforce federal criminal law” where the only violation is “unauthorized presence in the country[,] . . . a civil infraction.”193 And, in 2017, the California Values Act was enacted, similarly prohibiting local law enforcement from expending resources “to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes . . . .”194 B. Limiting Compliance with Immigration Detainers and Administrative Warrants Federal pressure to participate in immigration enforcement has prompted a second type of local disentanglement policy: limiting compliance with immigration detainers and administrative immigration warrants. Given the Secure Communities program’s reliance on immigration detainers, declining these federal requests has become a prominent way by which localities are expressing resistance to the program. Practices limiting detainer compliance are found in a range of local ordinances, state laws, and internal policing directives. Early examples of such policies typically stopped short of denying all requests to extend detention for deportation purposes. For example, the California and Connecticut TRUST Acts mandated that localities decline detainers unless issued against persons with certain criminal charges or convictions.195 Similarly, local policies in Cook County, Illinois and New York City included numerous criminal history-based exceptions to the general rule of not complying with immigration detainers.196 More recent policies now provide that jurisdictions not honor any detainer unless it is accompanied by a judicial warrant or other documentation establishing probable cause of a crime. For example, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has announced that it will decline all immigration detainers from ICE, distinguishing between “an arrest warrant signed by a judge, and an immigration detainer signed by an ICE Agent.”197 The weight of judicial decisions now firmly establishes that the federal government cannot require jurisdictions to comply with detainers.198 Courts have also made clear that holding someone on a detainer amounts to a new arrest that must comply with the Constitution.199 In addition, many jurisdictions have implemented policies prohibiting detention based not only on immigration detainers but also on administrative immigration warrants for arrest. The Princeton Police Department, for example, has a General Order prohibiting police from “arrest[ing] or otherwise detain[ing] persons” based on an ICE administrative warrant contained in the NCIC database.200 An administrative arrest warrant is a document issued by an ICE official stating that the officer has determined there is probable cause to believe that an individual is subject to removal.201 Unlike criminal arrest warrants, administrative arrest warrants are neither issued by a judge nor based on sworn testimony, and the statute and regulation that mention these warrants identify no standard of proof for their issuance.202 Until March 2017, DHS did not even require ICE officials to obtain an administrative warrant before issuing a detainer.203 The lack of judicial and constitutional safeguards for administrative arrest warrants arguably render the federal government’s reliance on them constitutionally suspect.204 But even if they properly authorize ICE to conduct an arrest, they do not necessarily authorize local authorities to do so.205 C. Refusing ICE Access to Jails Another way in which local jurisdictions have protected immigrants is by declining to let ICE agents enter their local jails. Indeed, the CAP program introduced in Part I relied on local jail access to interview and deport inmates held in local custody.206 Information obtained from in-person interviews of inmates is also significant for the Secure Communities program, as it supplements data available through the fingerprint-sharing function. Limiting ICE access to jails was a critical part of New York City’s effort to disentangle local law enforcement from ICE. On February 14, 2015, immigration authorities were shut out of the New York City jail at Riker’s Island pursuant to New York City Local Law 58, which prohibited federal officials from “maintain[ing] an office or quarters on land over which the [Department of Corrections] exercises jurisdiction, for the purpose of investigating possible violations of civil immigration law . . . .”207 Similar measures are now in place in other jurisdictions. For example, in Cook County, Illinois and Richmond, California ICE agents are not allowed to enter the local jails without a criminal warrant or other legitimate law enforcement purpose other than civil immigration enforcement.208 In the District of Columbia, local law enforcement may not provide ICE “an office, booth, or any facility or equipment for a generalized search of or inquiry about inmates . . . .”209 Santa Clara, California will not allow ICE agents to enter their county jails for “investigative interviews or other purposes . . . .”210 And, although not an absolute bar to jail access, some policies have attempted to create a procedural firewall between noncitizens and federal immigration authorities by requiring a Miranda-type warning in the event ICE seeks to interview inmates. As one example, the California TRUTH Act requires inmates be provided with a “written consent form” and be given the opportunity to decline an ICE interview or have a representative present before proceeding.211 These sorts of protections help fill a gap created by federal court decisions extending the booking exception for Miranda to questioning by ICE agents—even if the information elicited is inculpatory— so long as there is an administrative purpose to the questioning.212 D. Limiting Disclosure of Sensitive Information Many sanctuary jurisdictions have sought to impose limits on the unnecessary sharing of sensitive information about their residents. Sensitive information may include citizenship and immigration status as well as other information that residents would be fearful of being disclosed to third parties.213 Two types of limitations on the sharing of sensitive information appear in the local policies we studied. First, some jurisdictions limit the sharing of confidential information about residents by city or county officials, including law enforcement, to encourage residents to feel safer when accessing local services or interacting with local government authorities. These limitations can encompass information about citizenship or immigration status, but often are not limited to such.214 Hartford’s restriction on disclosure of “confidential information,” for example, encompasses an individual’s sexual orientation, status as a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, status as a crime witness, receipt of public assistance, as well as immigration status and “all information contained in any individual’s income tax records.”215 Los Angeles takes a functional approach, protecting personally identifying information, described as information the City possess which could allow someone to determine citizenship or immigration status.216 Second, local jurisdictions have established policies declining to provide information in response to requests by ICE about the release dates of inmates held in local jails.217 By not notifying immigration authorities about the time and place of an individual’s release from custody, these jurisdictions are refusing to facilitate the individual’s arrest by ICE. For example, a 2011 Cook County, Illinois ordinance directed that, without a “criminal warrant” or “legitimate law enforcement purpose . . . not related to the enforcement of immigration laws,” County officials “shall not expend their time responding to ICE inquiries or communicating with ICE regarding individuals’ incarceration status or release dates while on duty.”218 New York City similarly requires a judicial warrant as a requisite to notification of release dates.219 The Trump administration has claimed that policies limiting the exchange of information between local officials and federal immigration officials violate federal law, pointing to 8 U.S.C. § 1373.220 But many of the policies that the administration has criticized on this basis do not limit the sharing of citizenship and immigration status information and thus fall outside the reach of § 1373. This is particularly true of policies that limit notification of release dates of individuals in local custody.221 Furthermore, § 1373 arguably amounts to an unconstitutional intrusion on state sovereignty.222 At a minimum, it must be construed narrowly to avoid unduly infringing on state sovereignty.223 In City of New York v. United States, the only federal court decision to directly address § 1373’s constitutionality, the Second Circuit rejected New York City’s facial challenge to § 1373 but acknowledged that applying § 1373 to bar “generalized confidentiality policies that are necessary to the performance of legitimate municipal functions” could run afoul of the Tenth Amendment.224 Following the decision, the City Mayor issued precisely the kind of “generalized confidentiality policy” the court suggested would be permissible,225 and as discussed earlier, other jurisdictions have followed suit.226 In addition to the examples discussed above, Santa Ana, California recently passed an ordinance with broad confidentiality protections distinguishable from the problematic policy at issue in City of New York. The Santa Ana City Council decreed that sensitive information would not be disclosed unless required by law, but the ordinance defines “sensitive information” broadly to include: any information that may be considered sensitive or personal by nature, including a person’s status as a victim of domestic abuse or sexual assault; status as a victim or witness to a crime generally; citizenship or immigration status; status as a recipient of public assistance; sexual orientation; biological sex or gender identity; or disability.227 Local confidentiality policies such as Santa Ana’s are particularly important in the Trump era. The Trump administration has abandoned policies previously in place under the Obama administration that allowed certain immigrants to be considered for a favorable exercise of prosecutorial discretion, including victims, witnesses, and those who had experienced violations of their civil rights, employment, or housing rights.228 These and other individuals who have important reasons to interact with local government officials will no longer receive protection from deportation if they end up in the hands of ICE. E. Precluding Participation in Joint Operations with Federal Immigration Enforcement A fifth type of sanctuary policy limits local participation in joint operations with federal immigration officials. Joint operations are collaborative law enforcement efforts in which federal law enforcement relies on local law enforcement to provide boots on the ground. When joint operations target immigrants for deportation, local law officials become participants in the federal government’s deportation efforts. Local law enforcement is under renewed pressure in the Trump era to designate local officers to enforce immigration law through a common type of joint operation, 287(g) agreements.229 Sanctuary jurisdictions have responded by declaring their intent not to participate in this program.230 For example, Seattle’s “Welcoming City” resolution, which was adopted following President Trump’s inauguration, clarifies that the city “will reject any offer from the federal government to enter into a Section 287(g) agreement.”231 In 2012 the town of Amherst, Massachusetts adopted a similar policy that explicitly prohibits 287(g) agreements.232 The New York State Attorney General’s Office has also distributed a “model sanctuary” policy that, among other provisions, provides that local law enforcement “shall not perform the functions of a federal immigration officer or otherwise engage in the enforcement of federal immigration law—whether pursuant to § 1357(g) of Title 8 of the United States Code or under any other law, regulation, or policy.”233 Beyond 287(g) agreements, there are other types of joint operations that may involve immigration enforcement as well, such as when local police team up with HSI’s “National Gang Unit” or the “National Fugitive Operations Team.”234 Some jurisdictions have barred local participation in such joint operations. Often, such policies prohibit local criminal justice agencies from participating in “civil” immigration enforcement,235 but some jurisdictions’ negative experiences with joint operations have pushed them even further. In Oakland, California, for example, one of the nation’s early sanctuary city resolutions called on city employees to refrain from providing assistance or cooperation “relating to the alleged violations of the civil provisions of the immigration laws.”236 In 2007, Oakland reaffirmed its “City of Refuge” status through a resolution condemning the immigration raids taking place under the administration of President George W. Bush.237 The 2007 resolution maintained the same focus on disentangling city officials from civil immigration enforcement while explicitly allowing joint operations “in matters involving criminal activity and the protection of public safety.”238 A resolution passed in the wake of the 2016 presidential election likewise maintained a distinction between civil and criminal enforcement, condemning cooperation with respect to the former but not the latter.239 Six months into the Trump presidency, however, Oakland changed course. The City Council resolved to “immediately” cancel a memorandum of understanding with HSI that allowed local officers to be designated as “U.S. Customs Title 19 Task Force Officers.”240 In support of the resolution canceling the MOU, the council cited the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportation and ICE’s “willing[ness] to lie . . . to their local law enforcement partners (e.g. Santa Cruz Police Department).” The last reference was to a February 2017 joint operation between Santa Cruz officials and HSI.241 Oakland soon determined to go beyond even this step. Although it had been directed to terminate its MOU with HSI, on August 16, 2017, the Oakland Police Department provided traffic control for an HSI raid that resulted in the arrest of members of a Guatamalan family in West Oakland.242 Following a public outcry, in 2018 the City Council reframed Oakland’s policy to eliminate all cooperation with immigration enforcement, whether related to civil or criminal violations.243 Oakland’s Mayor Libby Schaaf also took affirmative steps to warn residents of an impending ICE raid in February 2018.244 Santa Cruz adopted a resolution in 2007, declaring that “to the fullest extent possible by law, the City of Santa Cruz shall not cooperate with ICE and shall prohibit the use of City funds or resources for any Federal immigration enforcement.”245 On the eve of Trump’s inauguration, the city council reaffirmed that no city resources or assistance would be used to aid federal immigration enforcement efforts, and explicitly prohibited local officials from “assisting with or participating in any immigration enforcement operation or joint operation . . . .”246 The City soon learned that would be insufficient when the Santa Cruz Police Department’s joint raid with ICE in February 2017, less than a month after the city council’s resolution, resulted in the deportation of community members with no gang ties.247 This prompted the city council to quickly enact an ordinance
specifically prohibiting such joint operations.248