What is a sanctuary city? Head of New York Civil Liberties Union reflects on a country divided
NEW YORK (WABC) -- From tragic clashes in Minneapolis to the roars of protests across the country, the debate over immigration rages.
Sanctuary cities are at the center and Donna Lieberman is on the front lines. She has led the New York Civil Liberties Union for 25 years.
She explained her definition of a sanctuary city.
"They comply with the law, but they don't go above and beyond to highjack local resources to deport or help deport immigrant New Yorkers," Lieberman said.
Sanctuary city policies vary, but essentially serve as a wall blocking communication between immigration agents and city workers. They were originally enacted to encourage immigrants to report crimes or get help without fearing they would be deported.
An estimated 1 million households in New York City include an undocumented immigrant.
Recently, Govs. Kathy Hochul and Mikie Sherrill have pushed legislation to shore up protections in New York State and New Jersey.
The battle over sanctuary cities are also helping fuel a budget fight on Capitol Hill. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, is set to end Friday.
Democrats refuse to fund it unless ICE changes its tactics. Some Republicans, like Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, are pushing to end sanctuary cities.
"Local law enforcement needs to be able to cooperate with federal law enforcement, that is their job and any time politicians try to restrict them from doing their jobs, they're not making it safer they're actually making it more dangerous," Lawler recently said on "Up Close."
New York City's sanctuary city status dates back to the 1980s when then-Mayor Ed Koch issued an executive order prohibiting police from sharing information about immigrants with the feds unless they were suspected of a crime.
Mayor Bill de Blasio expanded the designation in 2014. Mayor Eric Adams called that an overreach and floated the idea of changing the city's sanctuary status.
But in his first hours in office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed executive orders to strengthen protections.
So where do we go from here as a country so divided?
"Well, I worry about the messages to our children, the stress and the trauma of kids who have a really strong sense of what's right and what's fair," Lieberman said. "I think that it's going to take us a while to recover from this trauma."
WATCH | Extended interview with Donna Lieberman
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