Travis County, Texas, home to the state capital Austin, has been in a long-running battle against Republican state elected officials who have claimed the liberal haven has adopted policies that endanger the public. Governor Greg Abbott claims that Travis County’s refusal to abide by all immigration detainers “is not a pronouncement of sound public policy; it is a dangerous game of political Russian roulette — with the lives of Texans at stake.” In response, the governor directed the state’s criminal justice division to cut off approximately $1.5 million in state funding that was slated to go [...]
Sanctuary campuses map
Since Donald Trump's victory in November, much has been said about sanctuary. Across the United States, university students, faculty, and staff have mobilized to pressure their administrations to move in the direction of creating a safe haven for migrants. I'm part of a team at the University of Denver that, among other things, is attempting to gather helpful resources for administrators and advocates on a website we're calling the Constitution Campus Clearinghouse. Among the most exciting resources I've come across recently is a graphical display of the budding sanctuary campus movement. [...]
Must local police work for ICE?
Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire to attack communities that resist his hateful rhetoric about migrants. In particular, he has repeatedly stated that he will work with Congress to cut off federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities.” Like with much else, he hasn’t bothered to tell us what he means by a sanctuary city. That term is thrown around so much that without a working definition, it is hard to make sense of which cities might come under attack by a Trump anti-sanctuary move. As I wrote in Crimmigration Law, though “sanctuary policies” take a variety of forms, “they all [...]