McDonnell has met with Sessions as well as former Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, who now serves as White House Chief of Staff. He has also reportedly spent time lobbying members of Congress in his attempts to hold on to the $132 million the county could lose over the next three years.
$105 of the $132 million potentially in peril for Los Angeles would come from the development of an enhanced radio and broadband communication system for law enforcement and first responders, according to the report.
Little of the $132 million seems at risk in the near term, according to the Daily News. New Department of Justice conditions for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants Program pose a small potential loss for the county. In 2017 the country received just $1.17 million through the program.
One revision to the Byrne program requires that federal immigration officials be given access to detention facilities, but the Sheriff’s Department restricts access to some inmates who have committed serious offenses, according to the report.
California’s Democratic leadership appears bent on imposing sanctuary policies on the entire state, with Senate Bill 54. If enacted, the law could mean the loss of funds for cities throughout the state.
Just this past week, the DOJ sent letters to four cities — Stockton and San Bernardino, California; Baltimore, Maryland; and Albuquerque, New Mexico; — threatening to discontinue funding over sanctuary city policies.
Sessions wrote: “By taking simple, common sense considerations into account, we are encouraging every jurisdiction in this country to cooperate with federal law enforcement. That will ultimately make all of us safer — especially law enforcement on our streets.”