BATON ROUGE, LA – New Orleans and other sanctuary cities across the country have been put on notice by the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ). 

In a letter today, the USDOJ has called for documents confirming New Orleans is in compliance with federal law which mandates cooperation with federal immigration authorities. This comes after much cautioning from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry who has warned Mitch Landrieu numerous times that his disregard for the law would have serious consequences for the City of New Orleans.  

“At a time when crime is up, arrests are down, and large majority of the murders this year have gone unsolved – I am puzzled why the Mayor continues to put partisan politics ahead of crucial funding that the USDOJ makes available,” said General Landry. “By continuing to push his radical agenda, the Mayor is going to lose pivotal funds that pay for police officers – placing an even heavier burden on the taxpayers of Louisiana through the supplemental services of the State Police.”

The letter adds that if Mayor Landrieu continues to violate the law and does not show compliance by June 30, the City’s grant funds could be withheld, suspended, and/or terminated – jeopardizing millions in federal grants, including OJP awards which were $4.7 million to New Orleans in 2016 and the COPS program which allocated $1.875 million for 15 New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officers in FY 2015. 

“With NOPD woefully understaffed and the City under dire budgetary times, the Mayor should put protecting the citizens and taxpayers over his political harboring of illegal aliens,” said General Landry. “And John Bel Edwards should to do all he can to ensure New Orleans complies with federal law and does not lose crucial federal grant funding, which the Governor has repeatedly defined as tax dollars coming back home instead of going to other states.”

#