Council Member Jack Evans: “We Are Very Vulnerable”

“We are very vulnerable,” said Council member Jack Evans of D.C.’s sanctuary city policy at the Feb. 27 Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting. “We have to be smart. We depend on over $2.5 billion of federal funding annually and that could be at risk if the Trump administration and Congress cracks down on sanctuary cities.”

The District of Columbia has openly prohibited local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with deportation actions by federal immigration law enforcement officials including ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Mayor Bowser’s office has committed $500,000 of discretionary funds for legal aid to illegal immigrants facing deportation.

“Would it help if the mayor would specify that the protection excludes convicted felons with court-ordered deportation orders from protection, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi confirmed at a press conference earlier in the day?” Evans was asked by The Georgetowner. Both Democratic leaders come from liberal and proclaimed sanctuary cities: New York City and San Francisco, respectively.

“Yes, it would,” Evans answered. “We have to be smart.”