Dem rep: Sanctuary cities are actually ‘Fourth Amendment cities’

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) says “Fourth Amendment cities” is a more accurate name for the sanctuary cities being targeted by the Trump administration.

“Here’s how I see it — yeah, they call them sanctuary cities,” he told host Chris Cuomo Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day.” “What I would say, Chris, is they’re Fourth Amendment cities.”

Gutierrez used Chicago as an example of how cities can protect the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by the government unless it obtains a warrant.

“The DEA, the FBI, the ATF — they get warrants right?” he said. “They go and pick people up.”

“What [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] — which is another federal law enforcement agency — does is it wants to have people detained and wants the City of Chicago to go after people without any probable cause being submitted before the court and without a warrant,” Gutierrez added.

“If you supply a warrant to the City of Chicago, we will absolutely honor that warrant. But you’ve got to get a warrant.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday that state and local governments seeking Justice Department grants must certify they are not sanctuary cities before receiving the money.

“Such policies cannot continue,” Sessions said during a surprise stop at the White House’s daily press briefing. “They make our nation less safe by putting dangerous criminals back on the streets.”

The announcement was the latest step by the Trump administration to crack down on sanctuary cities, which do not assist federal authorities in enforcing immigration laws. Those cities say enforcing immigration laws would hurt law enforcement because undocumented immigrants would not come forward with information or to report crimes.

But the attorney general said compliance with federal immigration laws is now a prerequisite for state and local governments to receive grants from the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Program.

The office provides billions of dollars in grants and other funding to help criminal justice programs across the country.