Hours after she was sworn in, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Justice Department to pause all federal funding for sanctuary cities, according to a report.
Among several directives issued Wednesday, Bondi charged the DOJ with identifying and evaluating funding agreements with nongovernmental organizations that provide support to undocumented immigrants, Fox News Digital first reported.
She also tasked the department with investigating instances of sanctuary jurisdictions obstructing law enforcement and “directing they be prosecuted, when necessary,” the outlet wrote.
Several offices within the Justice Department provided $1.56 billion in grants to sanctuary cities in 2023, according to the think tank Center for Immigration Studies.
Last month, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit, warned how slashed funds could endanger sanctuary jurisdictions.
Hours after being sworn in, Attorney General Pam Bondi halted federal grant money from the DOJ from going toward sanctuary cities (AP)
Cutting this funding source “could disrupt critical programs funded by federal dollars, including public safety initiatives, disaster relief, housing support, and healthcare services. These cuts are not just an attack on immigrants—they are an assault on the well-being of every resident in these cities,” the nonprofit said in a statement.
On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order directing the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security “to the maximum extent possible under law, evaluate and undertake any lawful actions to ensure that so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions, which seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations, do not receive access to Federal funds.”
Trump has also promised mass deportations. He has already ordered more than 1,500 troops to the southern border as part of his immigration crackdown.
Across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made more than 8,000 arrests of migrants. On February 1 alone, the agency made 864 arrests.
Bondi is sworn in as attorney general by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (right) as President Donald Trump, partner John Wakefield and mother Patsy Bondi, look on, in the Oval Office. She issued several orders on her first day in office (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Long before Bondi’s directive, mayors across the country have stood up to Trump’s planned mass deportations.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told the Washington Post in November that the sanctuary city planned to take on any threats to its funding. He added: “There will not be any cooperation” with deportations.
Last month, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced an investigation into the policies of sanctuary cities and how they impact public safety and immigration enforcement. The mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City plan to testify at the committee’s March 5 hearing, Comer said Wednesday.
Bondi also said she would be setting up a “Weaponization Working Group,” tasked with reviewing the activities of all law enforcement agencies over the past four years to identify cases of “politicized justice,” including Trump-related lawsuits, such as those led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Fox News Digital reported.
