As part of the Executive Order President Donald J. Trump signed Wednesday, he has promised to "crack down on sanctuary cities."
What does that mean for your city or county? WUSA9 spoke to officials in several jurisdictions to find out.
First, let's define sanctuary city. The simple explanation is it's a city that has a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants. They don't prosecute them for violating federal immigration laws.
If you live in D.C., you're living in a sanctuary city. D.C. went a step further, announcing plans for a half-million dollar fund to help undocumented immigrants in the District, facing or fearing deportation.
In Maryland, Montgomery County says they're not a sanctuary jurisdiction. They say they don't ask people their immigration status. They're not required by law to do so.
Takoma Park's mayor, Kate Stewart, confirmed they are a sanctuary city.
In Prince George's County, officials say they've never established they're an official sanctuary county.
"We believe that the county is following the law, and we're going to honor that. but we're not changing. We're not afraid of what the President said, that he's going to withhold because we feel that we're doing the right thing. We're following the law, as long as we're doing that, our policies will not change in Prince George's County," said County Executive Rushern Baker.
In Virginia, officials in Alexandria say they don't wear the label "sanctuary." They say they follow all federal and state immigration laws. For example, if they pull over a driver and there's a warrant out from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.), they report the individual. But, they do not ask people whether they're here legally or not.
Officials in Arlington say they don't consider themselves a sanctuary city either. They also don't ask people if they're here illegally.
Fairfax County officials say they're not a sanctuary city.
Why is it important to establish who's a sanctuary city and who's not? President Trump has promised to strip federal dollars from cities and counties that harbor undocumented immigrants. WUSA9 asked all these jurisdictions what they could stand to lose, but they say it's just too soon to know that answer.
