Mayor Landrieu's Statement on President Trump's Executive Order on Sanctuary Cities

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Office of the Mayor Press Releases & Media Advisories

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

January 25, 2017


Contact: Erin Burns

For Media Inquiries Only
communications@nola.gov
(504) 658-4945

Mayor Landrieu's Statement on President Trump's Executive Order on Sanctuary Cities 


NEW ORLEANS – Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu released the following statement on President Trump's Executive Order on Sanctuary Cities: 


"First and foremost, the City does now and will continue to follow federal laws, and we will continue to make sure that we arrest and convict violent criminals, regardless of their immigration status. But the NOPD will not be President Trump’s deportation force.

 

The City of New Orleans is a welcoming city, and we will continue to be a place whose racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity contribute to our growing economy, rich culture, resilience, and commitment to equity and inclusion.

 

The NOPD is focused on arresting those who commit violent crimes, not enforcing civil immigration laws. We will continue to do the work we are entrusted with by the people of New Orleans and remain focused on keeping our city and her citizens safe.  This makes us safer because it increases trust between the community and law enforcement. Those who commit a crime will be arrested - political theatrics have no bearing on the serious work at hand.

 

The NOPD’s policy on immigration complies with federal law. The Department of Justice, the federal consent decree monitor and the Federal judge overseeing the consent decree have approved the immigration policy and it has served us well. Going back to September of 2015, officials at the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were consulted in the drafting of NOPD’s immigration policy. This agency, which is responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws, never expressed any concern with the NOPD’s policy.

 

It’s not just the City who believes the NOPD policy complies with Federal law.  Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry testified to Congress in September that Louisiana “no longer has any jurisdictions prohibiting them from communicating with Federal immigration authorities.”  


Because of these rigorous reviews of the NOPD’s policy, we do not believe that President Trump’s executive order will endanger any federal funding and there will be no change in our policy.

 

Lastly, the NOPD will not be coerced into joining Trump’s deportation army via the 287(g) program. Doing so would require the NOPD to pull officers focused on fighting crime off the street."


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