FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
December 29, 2017
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
Alabama Attorney General
AG STEVE MARSHALL JOINS LEGAL EFFORT FOR ENFORCEMENT
OF TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER AGAINST SANCTUARY CITIES
(MONTGOMERY) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined a coalition of 11
state attorneys general in an amicus brief to support President Donald Trump’s executive order
regarding sanctuary cities.
The attorneys general filed a friend-of-the-court brief on December 22 urging the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn a lower court ruling and to enforce President
Trump’s executive order opposing sanctuary cities. The brief argues the establishment of
sanctuary cities would undermine the President’s immigration enforcement authority, an area
where the Constitution gives him and Congress considerable power. The brief supports
President’ Trump’s position in an appeal of the cases City and County of San Francisco v. Donald
Trump and County of Santa Clara v. Donald Trump.
“This is fundamentally a matter of public safety, in which we are asking the Court to
uphold the right of Alabama and other states to fight practices that defy the rule of law and
hinder the ability of law enforcement to effectively protect the public,” said Attorney General
Marshall. “If local entities are allowed to interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration
laws, then criminal illegal immigrants may take refuge and endanger the surrounding
communities. The State of Alabama supports the President’s executive order because we believe
that individual states should have the right to prohibit sanctuary cities and effectively protect
our citizens.”
Sanctuary jurisdictions – cities and localities that prohibit or otherwise obstruct
cooperation between federal and local officials on immigration enforcement – defy the rule of
law and deprive law enforcement of the tools necessary for effective civil and criminal
enforcement, the attorneys general assert. Upholding federal immigration laws will provide law
enforcement in Alabama and other states with additional and necessary tools to identify drug
offenders who enter the country unlawfully.
The executive order directs the U.S. Attorney General and the Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security to ensure that sanctuary cities, to the extent permitted by
law, may not receive grant dollars from specific federal programs. The order encourages states
to comply with existing federal law that promotes voluntary cooperation between federal and
state officials.
Alabama joined the West Virginia and Louisiana-led brief with Arkansas, Florida,
Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. You may access a copy of the brief
through this link.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
