National Sheriff's Group Head Blasts Fed's Now-Removed Sanctuary List

On Thursday, President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security released a list of jurisdictions it said defied federal immigration law. On Saturday, Canyon County, Idaho, Sheriff Kieran Donahue criticized the list, which included the city of Boise. Now, the department has removed the list from its website.

Was Donahue, a Republican who supports Trump, coming to the defense of Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, a Democrat who opposes him? He’s not saying. A county spokesperson said Monday that Donahue was tied up with meetings related to the list and was unavailable for comment.

But he is coming to the defense of fellow sheriffs around the country. Donahue is president of the National Sheriffs' Association, and it’s under that banner that he spoke out.

It’s unclear why Boise was included on the list, since sanctuary cities are banned in Idaho. Donahue issued a statement Saturday saying the department sought no input for its listing, provided no indication of the criteria used for making the list, and offered no way to object to it.

“The completion and publication of this list has not only violated the core principles of trust, cooperation and partnership with fellow law enforcement, but it also has the potential to strain the relationship between Sheriffs and the White House administration,” Donahue said. “The Sheriffs of this country feel betrayed.”

Donahue said members of the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Department of Homeland Security met Saturday to talk about the list. However, no political appointees “could explain who compiled, proofed and verified the list,” he said.

In an emailed statement Friday, a department spokesperson told the Idaho Statesman that the list was based on several factors, including places calling themselves sanctuary cities, legal protections for undocumented immigrants and restrictions on immigration sharing. The list can be changed at any time, the spokesperson said.

There is no clear definition of “sanctuary city,” local lawyers told the Statesman. Sanctuary cities grew in popularity before President Donald Trump’s first term and colloquially refer to areas where officials limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

For example, some “sanctuary” cities don’t comply with immigration detainers, which are requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement for jails to notify agents of a person’s release from jail or hold someone for agents to come get them.

Boise doesn’t have a jail, nor does it have jurisdiction over Ada County’s. McLean, the mayor, said Friday that she was waiting to hear from the department why Boise made the list — the only jurisdiction in Idaho that did. On Saturday, at a local Pride event, McLean told the Statesman that Boise was not a sanctuary city, and “we’re not in charge of the jails.”

Idaho lawyers and an immigrant advocate told the Statesman that Boise does not appear to be violating federal immigration laws.

“I was very confused when I saw Boise was on the list. They do work with ICE,” said Estefanía Mondragón, executive director of PODER of Idaho, a local group dedicated to immigrant and Latino communities. “If anything, PODER thinks that Boise can do more for undocumented immigrants.”

The term “sanctuary” may even be a bit of a misnomer: Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials can do immigration enforcement anywhere in the country, according to Geoffrey Heeren, a University of Idaho law professor.

Idaho may have banned sanctuary cities, but neighboring states have embraced them. In Washington state, the Keep Washington Working Act instructs law enforcement to not honor immigration detainers.

“This issue has become really politicized,” Heeren said. “The reality is that under federal law, there’s a spectrum in terms of the allowable involvement of state and local governments.”

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