AG Pam Bondi orders DOJ to pause all funding for sanctuary cities
WASHINGTON — Newly inaugurated Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the defunding of jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities Wednesday — potentially cutting off a significant money source for New York.
Bondi, 59, issued the edict shortly after being sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at an Oval Office ceremony with President Trump in attendance.
“[T]he Department of Justice will ensure that, consistent with law, ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ do not receive access to Federal funds from the Department,” Bondi’s first-day memo says.
“Consistent with applicable statutes, regulations, court orders, and terms, the Department of Justice shall pause the distribution of all funds until a review has been completed, terminate any agreements that are in violation of law or are the source of waste, fraud, or abuse, and initiate clawback or recoupment procedures, where appropriate.”
Both New York’s state government and New York City are sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in deportation proceedings.
Other sanctuary states include California and Connecticut — while major cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, also have such policies.
A relatively small share of funding flows from the Justice Department to New York’s state and local governments, but the declaration could further pinch budgets already tightened to provide housing and services for the surge of migrants who arrived under former President Joe Biden’s more permissive border “parole” policies for asylum seekers.
The memo orders an immediate 60-day pause on distribution of funds — with a report on further steps due on Bondi’s desk within 45 days. Bondi’s order also says the DOJ “shall not enter into any new contract, grant, or other agreement to provide Federal funding to non-governmental organizations that support or provide services, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through sub-contracting or other arrangements), to removable or illegal aliens.”
It’s unclear if the action portends a broader initiative by the Trump administration to use financial leverage to force states and cities to comply with the president’s promised mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
Trump’s deportation drive began shortly after he took office Jan. 20 with a focus on those charged or convicted of crimes — and he’s ordered some migrants sent to the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a deterrent while threatening tariffs on any country that refuses return flights.
The federal government is expected to provide more than $8 billion in funding to New York City agencies in fiscal 2025, according to municipal data.
The idea of cutting off sanctuary jurisdictions is popular among Republicans — with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) previously proposing putting it into legislation.
“The idea that you would maintain a sanctuary city status and then cry out to the federal government for assistance in what you’ve done is, to me, unconscionable,” Johnson told The Post in a 2023 interview.
It’s not the first time Trump has tried to use federal aid to stiffen local law enforcement.
At the end of his first term, Trump initiated a broad attempt to defund cities that he said were being too lenient toward crime and anti-police rioting, including New York City, Seattle and Portland.
That plan was scrapped by Biden shortly after he took office in 2021.
Bondi takes the helm of the Justice Department as the acting leaders of the department, including interim Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, clash with the FBI over the bureau’s alleged “insubordination” in carrying out Trump’s orders to track down evidence of “weaponization” of the legal system under Biden.
