The recent expansion of “sanctuary” jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased the number of illegal immigrants being hidden by liberal governments to a new high.
According to a new analysis of the numbers, nearly 8 million illegal immigrants have moved into sanctuary states and cities, about 56% of all illegal immigrants in the country.
The Center for Immigration Studies recently updated its map of sanctuaries, adding 170 to an already large list of hundreds of towns and states. And on Tuesday, it released an estimate of how many illegal immigrants are being protected from ICE arrests in those jurisdictions.
CIS estimates that there are 14 million illegal immigrants in the United States and that 7.8 million live in the sanctuaries that refuse to cooperate with ICE when the agency files “detainers,” or requests that immigrants in jail or being detained be handed over for deportation.
The incoming Trump administration has put a focus on deporting criminal illegal immigrants, and that means relying on local jails and law enforcement to cooperate when detainers are filed.
Facing rejection from over 600 sanctuaries, the administration said it would retaliate by cutting federal funding to those jurisdictions. Incoming border czar Tom Homan has also threatened to arrest those fighting the federal government, including big-city mayors.
The numbers drawn up by CIS show just how difficult fighting sanctuaries will be for Homan’s team.
The new report, produced by CIS resident scholar Jason Richwine, said that 45% of the illegal population lives in 13 sanctuary states and Washington, D.C. They are protecting 6.3 million illegal immigrants. California holds the most, with 3 million.
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Another 750,000 live in states that act like sanctuaries, though they do not have sanctuary laws on their books. They include Virginia, Maryland, and New Mexico. Virginia’s governor, the pro-Trump Glenn Youngkin, has threatened to cut state aid to cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE.
And, Richwine said, some 822,000 illegal immigrants live in sanctuary cities in non-sanctuary states.