The Justice Department is ramping up its war on sanctuary cities

Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

The Justice Department is ramping up its war against sanctuary cities by threatening to subpoena 23 jurisdictions that fail to hand over "any orders, directives, instructions, or guidance to your law enforcement employees" by Feb. 23, The Washington Post reports. The Justice Department additionally threatened to "repossess funds given out in the 2016 cycles and [deny] grants in the current cycle for fiscal year 2017" if the documents aren't handed over, BuzzFeed News writes.

So-called "sanctuary cities" limit cooperation with the federal government in enforcing immigration law. The Justice Department is targeting the likes of Chicago and New York City, as well as the entire states of California and Oregon, which have "sanctuary" laws at the state level.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.