Sanctuary Policies: An Overview

The federal government cannot legally compel jurisdictions to take part in immigration enforcement. Sanctuary policies publicly affirm that local governments will not cooperate with federal officials to enforce immigration laws. These policies often restrict the ability of local police to arrest or detain people for federal immigration violations or civil immigration warrants, prevent local governments from contracting with the federal government to hold immigrants in detention, and restricting the sharing of certain information on immigrants with the federal government.