News

Dear Members of Congress,

The undersigned organizations, representing immigrant, anti-poverty, children’s, health care, labor, civil rights, environmental, and many other areas of advocacy write in opposition to H.R. 5717, the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act. This bill could deny states and localities across the country billions of dollars in federal funding for critical services that protect the health and safety of all residents. It would impose new penalties on state and city governments, forcing them to choose between abandoning policies that protect their constituents or losing funding for a vast array of essential programs.

This bill would block the distribution of federal funds to a potentially large number of cities and states that have elected to limit local officials’ role in federal immigration enforcement, though it is not clear how this law would be implemented. While undocumented immigrants are ineligible for the major federal public benefit programs, states and localities receive funding for essential services that benefit all residents. This bill is written so broadly that it could cut off significant sources of funding for states and localities and undermine every resident’s access to critical services, potentially including:

• Department of Education grants, National School Lunch Program funding, and other forms of federal support for schools, which are not allowed to refuse enrollment by undocumented students.
• Emergency Medicaid, which provides states with funding for emergency care for people ineligible for Medicaid due to their immigration status. In the case of public hospitals run by a city or county, all federal funding for uncompensated care, such as Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments, could be at risk.
• Women Infants and Children program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program and other nutrition programs that support food banks and other community partners that do not restrict help by immigration status.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for non-monetary in-kind assistance, which are not restricted by immigration status.
• Department of Transportation grants used for the benefits of communities, such as providing free public transit services that might be used by undocumented immigrants.
• Violence Against Women Act grants, such as those supporting violence crisis centers that do not turn away people based on their immigration status.
  

States and local governments often choose to limit their role in immigration enforcement in order to meet critical goals and priorities of their residents. Limiting entanglement with federal immigration enforcement conserves local resources and avoids a deterioration of trust in public institutions, like public schools, that results from local law enforcement working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Such collaboration is associated with housing instability, chronic student absenteeism, low birth weight, negative child well-being outcomes, and decreased use of preventive and prenatal care for immigrant communities and their children. Further, many jurisdictions wish to limit deportations given the negative impacts on family stability, child well-being, and trust of authorities. Research demonstrates that protective policies offer the benefit of enhanced community trust in public institutions, including hospitals and health centers, without causing any increase in crime. H.R.5717 would arbitrarily deprive funding for states, localities, and their residents simply for undertaking reasonable policy measures that aim to enhance public safety and community well-being. We urge you to reject this extreme legislation and any other attempts to infringe on the rights of cities and states to support their immigrant communities.

Sincerely,

National Immigration Law Center

Center for Law and Social Policy

#WelcomeWithDignity

805UndocuFund

ACA Consumer Advocacy

ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Advocating Opportunity

African Services Committee

AFT

Ahri Center

AIDS Foundation Chicago

Al Otro Lado

Alliance for a Better Community

Allies for Immigration Justice San Luis Obispo County

American Civil Liberties Union

Amica Center for Immigrant Rights (formerly CAIR Coalition)

ANAR

Arkansas United

Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum

Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)

Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)

Austin Region Justice for Our Neighbors

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Ayuda

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action

Black Alliance for Just Immigration

Borderlands Resource Initiative

Bridges Faith Initiative

California Association of Food Banks

California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ)

California Immigrant Policy Center

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

California WIC Association

Caminar Latino/Latinos United for Peace & Equity

CASA

Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ)

Center for Health Progress

Center for Popular Democracy

Central American Refugee Center

Central American Refugee Center, New York (CARECEN)

Central American Resource Center of Northern California - CARECEN SF

Children's Defense Fund

Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC)

Church World Service

Citizen Action/Illinois

Coalition for Asian American Children and Families

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

Coalition on Human Needs

Colorado Consumer Health Initiative

Community Food Bank of New Jersey

Cook County Health

Courage California

Detention Watch Network

Eagle Pass Border Coalition

East Bay Refugee and Immigrant Forum

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

El Vínculo Hispano/Hispanic Liaison

Empire Justice Center End Hunger CT!

Equal Rights Advocates

Equality California

Erie Family Health Centers

Every Texan

Faith In Action

Families USA

Feeding New York State

Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America

First Focus Campaign for Children

Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project

Food Bank of Northern Nevada

Food for People

Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)

Freedom Network USA

Futures Without Violence

Georgia Equality

GLIDE Foundation

GRACE - End Child Poverty in California

Haus of a Stranger

Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center

Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice

Healthy Kids Happy Faces (HKHF)

Hep Free Hawai'i

Hispanic Services Council, Inc.

Human Rights First

Hunger Action Los Angeles

Hunger Free Colorado

Illinois Accountability Initiative

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Illinois Community for Displaced Immigrants

Immigrant Defenders Law Center

Immigrant Defense Project

Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)

Immigration Center for Women and Children

Immigration Equality

Immigration Hub

Immigration Law & Justice Network

Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective

Institute for Policy Studies, Poverty Project

International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)

Jewish Women International

Just Neighbors

Justice At Last

Justice in Motion

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)

Korean Resource Center

KRC Korean Resource Center

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)

Latino Community Fund INC. (LCF Georgia)

Law Students for Immigrant Justice at UCLA Law

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the SF Bay Area

League of Conservation Voters

League of United Latin American Citizens District VII

League of Women Voters of the United States

Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County

Little Lobbyists

Mano a Mano Family Resource Center

Mariposa Legal

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

Metropolitan Family Services

Midwest Immigration Bond Fund

Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania

National Alliance to End Homelessness

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners

National Association of Social Workers

National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

National Education Association

National Employment Law Project

National Housing Resource Center

National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)

National Immigration Forum

National Immigration Project

National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC)

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

National Network to End Domestic Violence

National Partnership for New Americans

National Women's Law Center

National Working Positive Coalition

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

New England Justice for Our Neighbors

New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice

North Carolina Justice Center

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project

Nourish California

Oasis Legal Services

Oklahoma Policy Institute

Pacific Asian Counseling Services

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

PrEP4All

Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness

Prevention Institute

Promise Arizona

Refugee Advocacy Lab

Refugee Congress

Refugees International

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Rural AIDS Action Network

SAFE (Stop Abuse for Everyone) Alliance

San Diego Hunger Coalition

Santa Barbara County Immigrant Legal Defense Center

Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)

Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Silver State Equality-Nevada

Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque IA

South Bay People Power

Tahirih Justice Center

Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors

The Advocates for Human Rights

The Children's Partnership

The Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania (ROC PA)

The Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United)

Treatment Action Group

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)

U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus

UnidosUS

Union for Reform Judaism

United Church of Christ

United We Dream

Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut

Utahns Against Hunger

UU Justice Ministry of CA (Immigrant Justice Action Team)-

Voices for Utah Children

Western Center on Law and Poverty

WHEAT

Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center Women Watch Afrika, Inc.

Women's Refugee Commission

Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

Young Invincibles

ZERO TO THREE