Trump Administration Claims MI 'Shamefully Obstructing' Federal Immigration Laws

MICHIGAN — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a list of "sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law" on Friday, and there are multiple Michigan towns and counties on the list.

Such sanctuary jurisdictions "deliberately and shamefully" obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws, endangering American communities, according to DHS.

Michigan municipalities in the DHS crosshairs are:

Cities

• Ann Arbor
• East Lansing

Counties

• Kalamazoo County
• Kent County
• Oakland County
• Washtenaw County
• Wayne County
• Wexford County

In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing DHS and the Department of Justice to identify jurisdictions that have been refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

"When local leaders demonize law enforcement and impose legal and political handcuffs that make aggressively enforcing the law impossible, crime thrives and innocent citizens and small business owners suffer," the executive order states.

Oakland County Executive David Coulter and Sheriff Michael Bouchard said they were working with federal officials and trying to figure out why Oakland County wrongly appeared on the list.

"We have not been notified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that Oakland County has any issue or that it is included on any list of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions," the joint statement said. "We are not a sanctuary jurisdiction. We are confident that the county’s policies and practices comply with federal law and we were incorrectly placed on this list."

The latest move by the Trump administration comes days after the president said he would "consider" pardoning the men who plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. Whitmer expressed her disappointment, saying, "When the president was shot at in Pennsylvania, I was one of the first people on either side of the aisle to condemn it. We have to condemn political violence, no matter who it comes from, no matter who it is aimed at. It does a disservice to everyone if we do anything short of that."

Related: Whitmer: Trump 'Doesn't Know The First Thing About Detroit'

In April, Whitmer faced backlash from fellow Democrats after she embraced Trump in Michigan, and was present in the Oval Office — shielding her face from photographers — as the president signed executive orders and assailed his political opponents.