Which cities, counties and states in the US are ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions?

“Sanctuary” jurisdictions, which do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers as a policy, are once again under the spotlight after a slew of violent crimes were committed by illegal immigrants, who were released despite having a detainer lodged against them.

When ICE believes a removable illegal immigrant has been arrested on criminal charges, it will lodge a detainer — a request that they be notified before the immigrant is released from custody and to keep them in custody until ICE can take custody of them.

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But sanctuary jurisdictions generally do not honor detainers, sometimes arguing that it is not their responsibility and that doing so has a chilling effect on relations between immigrants and the community.

“When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders onto the streets, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect public safety and carry out its mission,” ICE’s website warns.

For the below list of sanctuary jurisdictions, Fox News Digital has listed those with state statutes, directives, executive orders or city council ordinances. If a jurisdiction does not honor an ICE detainer, it does not necessarily qualify them as a sanctuary jurisdiction, nor does independent judgments from local law enforcement or jails.

Sanctuary jurisdictions are always evolving, often moving between declaring themselves sanctuaries and redefining their ordinances. 

Here are the jurisdictions currently classed by Fox as having “sanctuary” policies.

States:

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Illinois

Massachusetts

New Jersey

New York

Oregon

Vermont

Washington

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Cities and Counties

California: Alameda, Berkeley, Fremont, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco (county and city), San Mateo County, Santa Ana, Santa Clara County, Watsonville.

Colorado: Boulder, Denver

Washington D.C.

Illinois: Chicago and Cook County.

Massachusetts: Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Concord, Lawrence, Newton, Northampton and Somerville.

Maryland: Howard County, Hyattsville, Prince George’s County, Rockville.

New Jersey: Newark

New York: Albany, New York City, Westchester County.

Pennsylvania: Lancaster, Lehigh County, Northampton County, Philadelphia.

 

Vermont: Burlington

Washington: King County, Seattle, Walla Walla County.