Will Yakima Be Stripped of Federal Money on February 1st?

As a major crackdown on illegal immigration is underway with President Donald Trump now sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to help deal with ICE operations a deadline is looming for the state. President Trump has pledged to cut off federal funding to "sanctuary cities" and states effective February 1, targeting jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. However Yakima is NOT a sanctuary city.

STILL CAN'T HELP FEDERAL OFFICIALS

Some Yakima County leaders, like County Commissioner Amanda McKinney say while they're in favor of the action they're barred from helping federal immigration officials simply because Washington is a Sanctuary state. In fact last year McKinney sent a memo to local media organizations saying "There has been no Board of Yakima County Commissioners declaration of Yakima County as a sanctuary county by resolution or ordinance." She says federal and state laws are clear that they do not allow for cooperation with ICE on immigration matters."

READ MORE: TIPS TO HELP YOU SAVE MONEY ON YOUR HEAT BILL

BARRED BY A FEDERAL CASE

McKinney says Yakima County is also under a federal court case "settlement stipulation that does not allow Yakima County to cooperate with ICE regarding immigration holds/detainers. The stipulation resulted from federal litigation."  That means that Yakima Police and the Yakima County Sheriff's Office may know the identity and location of illegal citizens but have no legal authority to give that information to federal authorities. Local authorities also can't impede the work of immigration officials as well.

TARGETING SANCTUARY CITIES

While the administration claims this action is necessary to curb crime and stop funding to jurisdictions that protect criminals, similar attempts in his first term were blocked by federal courts, which deemed them unlawful coercion. So far no funding however has been pulled from cities like Seattle.

NO IMPACT FOR THE CITY OF YAKIMA

Yakima City Manager Vicki Baker says there'll be no direct impact since the city is not a sanctuary city unlike the city of Seattle. But the state is a sanctuary state so any pause in federal funding could impact the entire state.