Seattle is not standing down from being a sanctuary city for immigrant. The threat made by our next president Donald Trump has not affected them in any way. Trump has made a promise to punish cities like Seattle who are protecting immigrants by blocking their federal funding.

A Sanctuary City has no official legal definition. Therefore, the impact it may have on the city is unclear.  There are many definitions of the term, people use it to describe a city with polices or practices that limit local involvement in regards to immigration. It is also used to describe cities that do not agree or cooperate with immigration agents or decline federal requests to arrest undocumented persons.

Sanctuary cities like Seattle do not have policies that stop local police from arresting and prosecuting immigrants for crimes committed that have no relation to immigration. Also, in a sanctuary city an immigrant is still not 100 percent safe from deportation. A federal agent can come into the city and arrest an immigrant but Seattle police are not going to. In the Seattle Police Department Manual it states that officers should not ask for documents or immigration status of any person.

Should Seattle really be worried about getting its funding cut? Donald Trump may have some difficulty cutting millions of dollars in federal funding. He is also very likely to face some legal challenges when and if he tries to force cities to become stricter regarding immigration. The most Donald Trump may be able to do is cut immigration funding, other than that there is not much he can do.

How do you feel about the topic of immigration? Do you take the side of our elect president?