Sanctuary Cities: Texas Municipalities Face Losing Funding Under Executive Order; President Also Signs Order To Build Wall

UPDATED on January 25: President Trump is cracking down on the more than 300 sanctuary cities that shield immigrants, signing an executive order that would withhold federal funds to those local governments that offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants. He signed the executive order during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday.

The order against sanctuary cities was expected to be one part of a series of executive orders on immigration issues that will be unveiled over a couple of days.

Before Trump signed the sanctuary city order, he signed an order formally moving forward with his campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

"This is border security," Trump said. "We've been talking about this from the beginning. This is going to bring it over the top. We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States.

"A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders."

The promise to "build a wall" was the most common refrain at Trump's campaign rallies last year. He would ask, "What are we going to do?" and the crowds would respond, "Build a wall." He would then ask, "Who's going to pay for it?" and they would respond, "Mexico."

The order calls for "the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border" of the United States. It does not say how the wall will be paid for.

Administration officials have said that the work on the wall could begin and that Mexico would be forced to pay for it down the road, though a mechanism for making that happen has not been spelled out.

"We will be in a form reimbursed by Mexico, which I've always said," Trump told ABC News on Wednesday.

HOUSTON, TX — So-called sanctuary cities could lose local government funding for providing sanctuary for undocumented immigrants under an executive order to be signed on Wednesday by President Donald Trump. The president’s order will make good on campaign promises to dismantle sanctuary cities by ending federal block grant funding.

The signing is expected to happen Wednesday when Trump visits the Department of Homeland Security for a 1:25 p.m. Eastern town hall meeting with employees. Trump is also expected to impose visa restrictions for people from certain countries in the Middle East and suspend the program that admits refugees into the United States.

Sanctuary cities and counties are called that because they offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants, refusing to turn them over to federal officials for deportation. Many sanctuary cities and counties have also passed laws preventing employees from even turning over information to immigration officials.

The order will "strip federal grant money from states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants," White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said.

The action against sanctuary municipalities is expected to be one part of a series of executive orders on immigration issues that will be unveiled over the next couple of days — the most notable of which will be an order formally moving forward with Trump's campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

According to the Ohio Jobs & Justice PAC, which has compiled and maintains a list of areas it considers sanctuary cities, there are 15 sanctuary zones in Texas, including Houston, Austin, and Dallas. The PAC's complete Texas list follows.

• Austin, TX
• Baytown, TX
• Brownsville, TX
• Channelview, TX
• Denton, TX
• Dallas, TX
• Dallas Co., TX
• El Cenizo, TX
• Ft.Worth, TX
• Houston, TX
• Katy, TX
• Laredo, TX
• Mcallen, TX
• Port Arthur, TX
• Travis Co., TX

While it is the cities that tend to get the most notice, it is often counties, which in many cases run the jails, that have real power to protect immigrants.

Sources who spoke with Patch say that the most likely target of funding would be the various grants given to local governments through the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

The two departments administer billions in grants — many of which go to law enforcement agencies in the more than 300 cities and counties that have declared themselves sanctuary cities.

These initiatives range from Homeland Security's Urban Area Security Initiative, which helps cities prepare for acts of terrorism, to the Edward Byrne Grant Program, which was named for a New York City Police officer killed in the line of duty and provides funding for a range of programs including crime victim assistance, drug patrols, and drug treatment.

Trump was also expected to impose visa restrictions for people from the Middle East, authorize the building of a wall on the Mexican border, and suspend the program that admits refugees into the United States.

Written by Colin Miner (Patch Staff)

— Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons/Gage Skidmore