U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) wants federal funding to states restored for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) Program to help combat drugs and violent crimes.
The Byrne JAG Program supports a wide array of state and local criminal justice initiatives, drug treatment and enforcement, and related crime prevention and law enforcement initiatives. These Byrne JAG Program grants have been caught up in the Trump administration’s brawl over the issue of illegal immigrant “sanctuary” cities, the so-called American localities and cities which do not fully cooperate with federal immigration laws and authorities.
In an executive order last year, President Trump attempted to make federal grants, including Byrne JAG, to these jurisdictions contingent upon them agreeing to cooperate with immigration enforcement authorities. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in July 2017 announced that new requirements conditional to receiving Byrne JAG Program funds stipulate that sanctuary jurisdictions must follow immigration law, grant federal immigration officials access to detention facilities, and give 48-hours notice before releasing those living in the country illegally and wanted by the federal government, according to a written statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
But in a Jan. 9 letter to Attorney General Sessions, Sen. Blunt, co-chairman of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, and several of his colleagues expressed concern that all states have not received fiscal year 2017 Byrne JAG program awards, including those states which, despite pending court cases, took it upon themselves to satisfy these new requirements.
“It has come to our attention that [DOJ] is withholding these grants from all recipients, regardless of whether they are in compliance with the new requirements or not,” wrote Blunt, U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), also a member of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) and four other Senate members.
“We are keenly aware of the Administration’s decision to impose new requirements on the Byrne JAG program and the ongoing legal challenges associated with them,” they added, noting the pending federal case in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the legality of the actions by Attorney General Sessions and the Justice Department to impose these new requirements.
Withholding FY17 Byrne JAG Program awards from all states leaves them “short of the resources they need to be a partner with the federal government on shared law enforcement responsibilities,” particularly in combating the nation’s current opioid epidemic, the senators wrote in their letter.
“We respectfully urge you to reconsider the decision to withhold this funding to states that are in compliance with federal immigration law so that those jurisdictions have the tools they need to serve their communities and meet their vital mission,” the lawmakers wrote.
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), James Lankford (R-OK), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) also joined in signing the letter.