Statement from Chair Deborah Kafoury on Attorney General Jeff Sessions' remarks on sanctuaries

March 27, 2017

Chair Kafoury speaks at Jan. 2017 press conference on sanctuary communities.
Chair Kafoury speaks at a Jan. 2017 press conference on sanctuary communities.

Chair Deborah Kafoury's statement on Attorney General Jeff Sessions remarks on federal funding and immigration:

“The Attorney General today said the Department of Justice will withhold and potentially claw back federal Department of Justice grant funding from jurisdictions in violation of certain federal immigration laws such as 8 U.S.C. 1373.

The Department of Justice has long required local jurisdictions to comply with ‘all applicable laws,’ including 8 USC 1373 as a condition of DOJ grant funding. We have no policies that violate the code.

Bottom line: in Multnomah County, we follow federal and state laws. So we do not expect to lose any of the $2.5 million in federal money that either comes directly to us or passes through the state or city.

This feels like a distraction to the real and serious issues we need to be working on."