Washington, D.C. (July 13, 2023) – A new Center for Immigration Studies report reveals federal law enforcement funding for states and localities that undermine immigration law and shield criminals from ICE. The report, “Still Subsidizing Sanctuaries”, and an accompanying podcast reveal the extent to which Washington is financing policies that compromise American sovereignty and community safety.
 
The analysis focuses on three key DOJ grant programs designed to support state and local law enforcement: The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (JAG), and the Community Oriented Policing (COPS) program. The awards to sanctuaries totaled approximately $300 million in 2021, and represented 43 percent of the available funding under these programs.
 
Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s director of policy studies, said, "These sanctuary policies, many of which have been found to be a violation of federal law, protect illegal aliens who have been arrested and flagged by ICE for removal. So the sanctuary policies are protecting criminal aliens, not asylum seekers.”
 
The Center’s report outlines several policies that would help prevent sanctuaries from receiving the scarce funding. Vaughan recommends that “Congress should restrict eligibility for SCAAP funding to those jurisdictions that actively participate in immigration law enforcement programs such as Secure Communities, the Criminal Alien Program, or the 287(g) program.” States can follow the example of Texas, Florida, and eight other states which penalize or prohibit local sanctuary policies.”
 
Key findings include:
 

• Nearly $300 million was awarded to sanctuary jurisdictions in 2021, representing 43% of all of the funding awarded in the SCAAP, Byrne JAG and COPS funding programs.
• Eleven sanctuary state agencies and 86 localities that have sanctuary policies or are located within sanctuary states received funding in 2021.
• State agencies in California, which has one of the most egregious state sanctuary laws, received $82 million in DOJ grants – not counting tens of millions in additional funding for individual cities and counties in the state.
• Among localities, the biggest recipients were Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
• The majority of SCAAP and Byrne JAG program funding went to sanctuary jurisdictions in 2021. 58 percent of the SCAAP funding and 68% of the Byrne JAG funding went to sanctuaries, while 28% of the COPS funding went to sanctuaries.