Apr 5--THE US Attorney General Jeff Sessions' threat to pull the plug on billions of dollars-worth of federal grants from local and state governments that support sanctuary cities will not impact the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles given that the ports rely on the Justice Department to fund major projects at the waterfront.
However, they do rely on other federal agencies to support millions of dollars in infrastructure and security initiates annually and are closely monitoring the situation, reported Long Beach Press Telegram.
In an executive order President Donald Trump signed in January, he threatened to pull all funds for state and local agencies that fail to fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
If successful, the move would be a major blow not only to the ports but across California, where legislatures have been weighing a bill that would declare it a "sanctuary state."
The Port of Los Angeles' federal grant funds are chiefly administered through the Department of Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency, said spokesman Phil Sanfield. "We will be closely monitoring developments on this issue."
Mr Trump has also proposed a 31 per cent budget reduction to the EPA, which could curb local port funding.
Santa Clara county last month filed a lawsuit in an effort to block the order and on recently California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus brief in support.
(Source:shippingazette)