Trump signs executive order requiring list of sanctuary cities and states

Donald Trump signed two new executive orders on Monday afternoon related to immigration, according to the White House, including one targeting so-called “sanctuary cities” and another the administration says will strengthen law enforcement.

One of the orders aims to “strengthen and unleash America’s law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent citizens”, according to the White House. It directs the attorney general to provide resources to the legal defense of police officers who “unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law”. The order also includes a directive to “[hold] state and local officials accountable” for “willfully and unlawfully [directing] the obstruction of criminal law.”

The second order targets so-called “sanctuary cities”, and directs the attorney general and secretary of homeland security to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that “obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws”. It also calls on the government to identify federal funds that can be terminated as a consequence for cities that identify as sanctuary jurisdictions.

Trump also signed an order on Monday requiring commercial vehicle drivers, such as truckers, read and speak English.

The new executive orders come less than a week after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot withhold federal funding from cities and counties that have passed laws preventing or limiting cooperation with US immigration officials, considered “sanctuary cities”.

On his first day in office in January, Trump issued an order directing the attorney general and homeland security secretary to withhold federal funds from such jurisdictions as part of his administration’s crackdown on immigration.

In February, he also issued another order instructing the federal government to ensure that federal funding to state and local governments does not “abet so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation”.

In response, San Francisco, along with more than a dozen other cities and counties nationwide with “sanctuary” policies, challenged the orders.

According toWhite House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the orders signed on Monday will bring the total number of executive orders signed during Trump’s first 100 days in office to more than 140, nearing the total number signed by Joe Biden over his four-year term.