SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Trump administration is threatening to pull federal funding from San Diego County and the State of California for being sanctuary jurisdictions.
When10 News reached out to the Governor's office for comment, they responded: "Please pray for the president as he struggles with cognitive decline. He already forgot he tried before – multiple times – and we sued him and won."
In an email statement, a spokesperson for the DOJ said, “Please pray for the innocent people of California who are being subjected to rampant crime, feces-covered streets, devastating wildfires, and the release of violent criminal aliens into their communities because their self-absorbed Governor cares more about running for President and wasting taxpayer dollars on fruitless anti-Trump lawsuits than actually governing his state.”
The challenge lies in the term "sanctuary jurisdiction" itself – it isn't really a defined legal term. Instead, it's more of a political tool where both sides of the immigration debate use it differently.
Back in November 2024 in a text to 10News, Mayor Gloria's office said they don't like the term "sanctuary city" because it's meaningless.
They stated that San Diego does not use law enforcement resources on immigration enforcement and that it had always been that way.
The Department of Justice, on the other hand, says basically any local government that has policies in place which inhibit enforcement by immigration authorities will be put on the sanctuary list.
There are nine ways the DOJ determines this which includes things like public declarations and policy issues, but their fourth criteria is particularly notable: "Funding Restrictions: Cities, states, or counties that prohibit local funds or resources from being used to support federal immigration enforcement efforts."
Meanwhile, the County of San Diego said in a statement today: "The County is closely watching federal changes that could affect our operations, while continuing to provide programs and services that reflect our communities and align with our vision, mission, and values."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistanceof AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
