Justice Department asks Supreme Court to dismiss Sanctuary City immigration prosecution

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to dismiss three lawsuits over a Trump-era immigration policy that led some areas to declare themselves “sanctuary cities.”

The policy was part of an effort to get police departments to notify federal authorities when non-citizens were about to be released.

In what started half-heartedly under former President Barack Obama and escalated under former President Donald Trump, the Justice Department has sought to deny federal grants to local governments that refused to notify agents of immigration when those in their custody were about to be released. The government also wanted access to local prisons so that immigration officers could interview non-citizens in detention.

In brief letters to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department said the cases should be dismissed, saying the government will no longer seek to enforce the policy.

The Trump administration disagreed with many major cities over federal detention requests, issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, asking police and sheriff’s offices to keep detainees in jail for up to 48 hours after having served their sentence. The requests involved people in the United States who had been illegally convicted of local crimes and who could be deported after being released.

After federal courts blocked the effort, the Justice Department instead sought to be notified before non-citizens were released, which sparked a new round of lawsuits.

Several lower federal courts have said that local authorities have no obligation to help immigration officers enforce federal law, and some states and cities have passed so-called sanctuary laws expressly prohibiting the police to provide information on non-citizens in their custody. Supporters said the laws make communities safer by encouraging victims of undocumented crimes to cooperate with the police.