The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took down a list of “sanctuary” states, cities, and counties from its website after facing criticism from a sheriffs’ association. The association argued that a list of “noncompliant” sheriffs could harm the relationship between the Trump administration and law enforcement.
On Thursday, DHS released a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that have policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. This led to a response from the National Sheriffs’ Association, which represents over 3,000 elected sheriffs and generally supports federal immigration enforcement.
Sheriff Kieran Donahue, the association’s president, stated that DHS published the list without input from sheriffs, violating principles of transparency, accountability, trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement. Donald Trump had previously called for his administration to identify sanctuary jurisdictions, suggesting that a lack of cooperation represented “a lawless insurrection.”
The DHS website with the list of jurisdictions was offline on Sunday, which Fox News host Maria Bartiromo raised with the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, on her show Sunday Morning Futures. Noem did not acknowledge the list being taken offline but mentioned that some localities had resisted the categorization.
Some cities, such as San Diego, publicly questioned the sanctuary label, with San Diego city attorney Heather Ferbert saying that San Diego had never adopted a sanctuary policy and that the designation appeared politically motivated. Immigrant advocates argue that sanctuary policies help build trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement, increasing residents’ willingness to report crimes.
Despite these arguments, Kristi Noem, who shares Trump’s hardline anti-immigration views, stated that the department would continue to maintain the sanctuary tally. However, DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The internet archive website Wayback Machine showed the list still online on Saturday.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/01/homeland-security-list-sanctuary-cities
