President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that starting February 1, his administration will withhold all federal funding from states that host sanctuary cities, escalating his long-running battle with local governments that limit cooperation on immigration enforcement.
At a Glance
- Trump will block federal payments to any state with sanctuary cities beginning Feb. 1
- The move could affect billions in programs from food aid to Medicaid
- Courts struck down two previous attempts to cut sanctuary-city funding
- Justice Department already lists California, New York and dozens of Democratic-led jurisdictions as targets
- Why it matters: States could lose money for schools, health care and anti-poverty programs while legal fights restart
The president revealed the plan late in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, offering no specifics on which programs would be frozen or how the policy would be enforced. Courts have twice rejected similar funding cuts in prior years, but the administration is moving ahead with renewed pressure on Democratic-led states and cities.
What counts as a sanctuary
Trump defined the target broadly: any city or state that “does everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens.” The term “sanctuary city” has no legal definition, but it generally means local governments refuse to hold people for federal immigration agents or share information about undocumented residents.
“Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities,” the president said. When reporters in Washington asked which funds would disappear, Trump replied only, “You’ll see. It’ll be significant.”
Past court defeats
Two earlier attempts to choke off money for sanctuary jurisdictions have failed in court.
- In 2017, during Trump’s first term, judges blocked an order that tried to strip grants from cities that limited cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- Last year, a federal judge in California struck down a similar executive order even though government lawyers argued the case was premature because no money had actually been withheld.
The target list
The Justice Department has already published a roster of roughly three dozen states, cities and counties it labels sanctuary jurisdictions. The list is dominated by Democratic strongholds:
- States: California, Connecticut, New York
- Cities: Boston, New York City
- Counties: Baltimore County, Maryland; Cook County, Illinois
That catalog replaced an earlier, longer version that drew complaints from officials who said inclusion criteria were unclear.
Funding already in jeopardy
Even before the Feb. 1 cutoff threat, the administration has moved to freeze or claw back money from programs nationwide:
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- The Agriculture Department warned states that withhold recipient data will lose administrative dollars
- No benefits have been stopped yet, and a court fight over the data demand was already underway
Day-care and family aid
- Health and Human Services halted funds last week to five Democratic-led states over unspecified fraud suspicions
- A federal judge quickly put that hold on hold
Minnesota under pressure
- Agriculture is freezing unspecified funding in the state
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told Minnesota it intends to withhold $515 million every quarter from 14 Medicaid programs labeled “high risk” after the state rejected a fraud-related corrective action plan
- The sum equals one-fourth of federal money for those programs; state officials said Tuesday they are appealing
What happens next
Legal challenges are expected to follow the same path as previous attempts: lawsuits filed by affected states and cities, arguments that the administration is overstepping its authority, and court orders that could freeze the policy before any money is lost.
For now, state budget offices are scrambling to identify which grants, reimbursements and pass-through dollars could vanish on Feb. 1. Schools, hospitals and anti-poverty programs are bracing for uncertainty while the countdown begins.
