US communities spanning from red to blue blast Trump administration's sanctuary list

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — State and local officials blasted the Trump administration's widely anticipated list of ''sanctuary'' jurisdictions that are deemed uncooperative with federal immigration enforcement, with some of the most enthusiastic supporters of the White House wondering on Friday how they wound up on it.

The list, which was riddled with misspellings, included sparsely populated counties that have little interaction with immigration authorities, that overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump and that have actively supported his hard-line immigration policies.

In California, the city of Huntington Beach made the list of hundreds even though it filed a lawsuit challenging the state's immigration sanctuary law and passed a resolution this year declaring the community a ''non-sanctuary city.''

''At first when I heard it I was like, accidents happen,'' said Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns. But after seeing so many other cities lumped in like his, he called it ''negligent.'' ''You don't have that many mistakes on such an important federal document — somebody's got to answer to that.''

Meanwhile, those with policies protecting immigrants also pushed back, saying they are doing right by their communities.

''This is simply the latest attempt by the Trump administration to strong-arm cities like Seattle into changing our local policies through bluster and threats to critical federal funding for public safety and homelessness,'' Bruce Harrell, the city's mayor, told The Associated Press in an email. ''It's not going to work — the law is on our side — and we will not hesitate to protect our people and stand up for our values.''

The list was published as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to follow through on the president's campaign promises to remove millions of people who are in the country illegally. It came out as Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced major leadership changes, and after a White House official said the administration wanted to increase daily immigration arrests.

Misspelled communities on the list included Cincinnati, which was spelled Cincinnatti. Also, some counties were mislabeled as cities and vice versa.

The administration has said each listed jurisdiction will receive formal notification that the government has deemed them noncompliant and if they're believed to be in violation of any federal criminal statutes.

In response to questions Friday about the list, the Department of Homeland security reiterated that it was compiled using a number of factors, including whether the localities identified themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they complied with federal officials enforcing immigration laws, if they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration enforcement or had any legal protections for people in the country illegally.

The agency noted in an email that the list will be updated regularly.

Some communities don't know why they were included

Officials in communities spanning from urban to rural and blue to red said the list doesn't appear to make sense.

Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, Wisconsin, said the inclusion of his community must be a clerical error. Davel voted for Trump as did 67% of Shawano County.

''We have no idea how we got on this list whatsoever right at this point,'' Davel said. ''I think it was just a big mix up, probably some paperwork or something.''

Davel thinks the administration may have confused the county's vote in 2021 to become a ''Second Amendment Sanctuary County'' that prohibits gun control measures with it being a safe haven for immigrants. He said the county has approved no immigration sanctuary policies.

In New Mexico, Otero and Lincoln counties also made the list and also have Second Amendment sanctuary policies.

In North Dakota, seven mostly small, rural counties wound up on the list, including Slope County, which has about 700 people and overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2024. County officials reached out to Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong's office about what steps to take, and plan to discuss the matter next week with the county state's attorney, County Commission Chairman Scott Ouradnik said.

Jonathan Thompson, executive director and CEO of the National Sheriffs' Association, called the list ''fatally flawed" and criticized the lack of transparency and clear criteria for inclusion.

''Blaming and shaming people without fact is a distraction. It's a mistake, it's an error, it's wrong,'' Thompson said.

Other communities defend their policies

Communities supportive of immigrants said their policies ensure that anyone who is a victim or witness feels they can come forward and report crime.

States including California, Illinois and Washington, which have such policies, are on the list.

Hartford, Connecticut, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said the capital city's laws and policies have enhanced the community's vibrancy and safety. Hartford bars people's immigration status from being used to deny city services and police can't arrest people solely because of immigration status.

''While my administration remains laser-focused on real solutions that protect our community, it is clear that current federal policies do not share this commitment to safety and threaten to undermine the gains we have made,'' Arulampalam said in a statement.

Nithya Nathan-Pineau, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said it's not clear what criteria were used to formulate the list or define the concept of sanctuary nor what legal action the government plans to take against the jurisdictions.

''It seems quite arbitrary because not all of these states or specific jurisdictions have a policy that limits cooperation with ICE,'' Nathan-Pineau said. ''It's pretty clear that this is another attempt to intimidate and bully.''

The Center for Immigration Studies, which supports limits on immigration, has kept its own list of sanctuary jurisdictions for at least a decade that it updates frequently. It differs from the administration's. Jessica Vaughan, the group's director of policy studies, questioned what documentation the administration used.

What is a sanctuary jurisdiction?

There's no clear definition of what a sanctuary jurisdiction is, but the term generally applies to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It originated in the 1980s with U.S. churches that housed Central Americans who fled civil wars.

Last month, Trump signed an executive order requiring Homeland Security and the attorney general to publish a list of states and jurisdictions that they considered to be obstructing federal immigration laws.

Federal departments and agencies, working with the Office of Management and Budget, would then be tasked with identifying federal grants or contracts with those states or local jurisdictions that the federal government identified as ''sanctuary jurisdictions'' and suspending or terminating the money, according to the order.

ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, enforces immigration laws nationwide. The agency often seeks state and local help in alerting federal authorities of immigrants wanted for deportation and holding them until those authorities can take custody.

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Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin and Bellisle from Seattle. Associated Press writers Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Gisela Salomon in Miami, John O'Connor in Springfield, Illinois, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas and Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed.