Mayors of 'sanctuary cities' say they'll fight Trump's plans

SEATTLE (AP) — Democratic mayors of major U.S. cities that have long had cool relationships with federal immigration officials say they'll do all they can to protect residents from deportation, despite President-elect Donald Trump's vows to withhold potentially millions of dollars in taxpayer money if they don't cooperate.

In Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Jorge Elorza, the son of Guatemalan immigrants, said he'd continue a longstanding city policy of refusing to hold people charged with civil infractions for federal immigration officials, and Newark's Ras Baraka echoed that, calling Trump's rhetoric on immigration "scary."

Trump didn't elaborate further on his plans for cracking down on the cities, and in a "60 Minutes" interview broadcast Sunday, he said his administration's immediate priority will be on deporting criminals and securing the border.

Since states and cities can't be required to enforce federal law — and there's no federal law requiring police to ask about a person's immigration status — it's likely that any Trump effort to crack down on sanctuary cities would focus on those that refuse to comply with ICE requests, said Roy Beck, chief executive of NumbersUSA, which wants to see immigration levels reduced.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, which also calls for lower immigration levels, about 300 jurisdictions around the country have sanctuary-like policies.