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Days after Donald Trump was elected president, the mayor of this unabashedly liberal Texas capital reassured the vast majority of immigrants here illegally that he would try to keep the city a safe haven for them.

Austin will not waver, Mayor Steve Adler told a crowd of hundreds who gathered outside City Hall for a pro-immigrant rally. In Austin, we do things our way and we will not stop.

Sally Hernandez, the new sheriff in Travis County, where Austin is located, announced the day Trump was inaugurated that she would not voluntarily comply with federal requests to detain people solely on the basis of their immigration status.

That spirit of defiance has spread across the city as activists, civic leaders and other public officials have joined the rebellion, setting up a spectacular showdown with the Republican governor and state Legislature.

Gov. Greg Abbott stripped the county of $1.5 million in criminal justice division grants for services for children, abused women and veterans in retaliation for its resolve to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

The state Senate passed a bill which is making its way through the House that would require local jails to comply with federal immigration requests and hold immigrants for up to 48 hours if they are in the country illegally. Sheriffs and police chiefs who refuse could be jailed for up to a year.

Elected officials dont get to pick and choose which laws they obey, the governor said in his State of the State address in January. To protect Texans from deadly danger, we must insist that laws be followed.

Just over a third of Austins 931,000 residents are Latino, compared with 80% in El Paso or 63% in San Antonio.

Yet leaders say the citys identity and business success rests on being a tolerant and cutting-edge tech hub that welcomes immigrants.

Apple, Facebook and Google want to be in Austin because of its culture, said Adler, a civil rights attorney before he became mayor.

Austin officials and other advocates for so-called sanctuary cities which refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement argue that giving local authorities discretion to enforce immigration laws could encourage racial profiling and that cracking down on immigrants who are in the country illegally but otherwise law-abiding would discourage them from reporting crimes.

Were putting public safety first, and that depends on a relationship of trust between our community and law enforcement, the mayor said.

Over four days in early February, federal agents fanned across the Austin region, detaining more than 50 immigrants who were in the country illegally.

The federal government denied its actions had anything to do with the sheriffs new policy, describing its actions as a routine targeted operation. But more than half of the immigrants detained had no criminal record a substantially higher rate than other cities across the nation and a federal magistrate judge said in court last month that immigration agents had warned him to expect a big operation as payback for the sheriffs stance.

The operation has had a chilling effect on the citys immigrant communities. Many who lack documentation have stayed in their homes, afraid to attend Mass or drive their children to school.

Now that the laws changing, Im afraid Im going to lose my kids, said Patricia Martinez, a 35-year-old Mexican citizen who has been in the U.S. illegally for well over a decade.

A victim of domestic abuse, Martinez now lives in hiding in a shelter with her five daughters, all U.S. citizens. She planned to assign temporary guardianship to relatives with legal status in case she is deported.

Since federal agents detained a Mexican immigrant inside the Travis County courthouse last month as he left a hearing for misdemeanor charges of domestic assault and possession of marijuana, others without legal status have been reluctant to appear in court, even as witnesses, according to their attorneys.

Austin has been pushing back.

The local police force has held a string of town hall meeting to reassure immigrants they are not a target.

Were telling them were interested in your safety and were not focused on your immigration status, said Brian Manley, Austins police chief. Every time my officers spend enforcing immigration law is time theyre not spending fighting crime.

Activists have set up neighborhood warning systems, using telephones and social media to track law enforcement activity and alert people when to hide, and offering services and financial help to families who risk losing their main breadwinner.

The City Council has used money from its emergency relief fund to pay $200,000 to Catholic Charities of Central Texas, which provides immigrants with legal assistance and has seen its legal consultations double from 25 to 50 clients a week.

Some are legal residents who suddenly feel more urgent about applying for citizenship. Others want to know if they have any chance of legal status.

Lawyers are holding Know Your Rights meetings, and legal clinics are offering deportation defense.

In an effort to throw off federal agents, some attorneys have sought to keep clients out of court, by getting waivers from judges or in some instances entering guilty pleas.

I kind of dont care that ICE knows that were doing this, said attorney Daniel Betts. If it continues, its going to be a cat-and-mouse game.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.

Excerpt from:
As Trump and Texas crack down on illegal immigration, Austin rebels - Los Angeles Times

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday called on federal prosecutors in Georgia and across the nation to take aim at illegal immigration.

In a three-page memo he sent the nations U.S. attorneys, Sessions told them to prioritize prosecuting people caught smuggling others into the U.S.; illegally reentering the country after being deported; committing identify theft and document fraud; and assaulting immigration enforcement officers.

An estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the U.S. in 2014, according to the Pew Research Center. Of those, 250,000 were in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell area.

For those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned: This is a new era, Sessions told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials during a visit to the southwest border in Arizona Tuesday. This is the Trump era. The lawlessness, the abdication of the duty to enforce our immigration laws and the catch and release practices of old are over.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Georgia declined to comment about how his office would implement Sessions mandate.

A Washington-based immigrant advocacy group said Sessions directive would sow fear and chaos.

Criminalizing immigration violations among individuals who are peaceably living in and contributing to our communities only will sow fear and chaos, said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum. Immigration enforcement should prioritize violent criminals and traffickers. Yet this new policy does just the opposite by requiring federal prosecutors to prioritize immigration violations rather than violent criminals and threats to community safety.

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AG to federal prosecutors: Get tough on illegal immigration - Atlanta Journal Constitution

Immigration hawk Rep. Steve King says he's "very disappointed on the lack of action" by the Trump administration to stop illegal immigration.

In an interview with the Daily Caller, the Iowa Republican said the White House hasn't kept its promise to undo the Obama-era executive orders protecting illegal immigrants the "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals," which has protected over 750,000 from deportation since 2012, and "Deferred Action for Parents of Americans," which was held up by a court decision.

"Every day this has been a violation of the Constitution," he said of the executive actions, adding, "Every day [the Trump administration is] complicit it is harder to resolve is [Trump] going to force us to go back to court again?

King also said he's "not too confident" Congress will appropriate the funds needed for immigration enforcement and that not building the border wall along the nation's southern border would be a "major failure" for Congress and the administration.

"We have an obligation to get those resources in place so the president can fulfill his campaign promise," King told the Daily Caller.

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Rep. Steve King: 'Very Disappointed' With Trump on Illegal Immigration - Newsmax

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Saturday it "makes no sense" that sanctuary cities want to fight the federal government to prevent detention of illegal immigrants.

Sessions said that voters in those areas must hold their local government accountable to keep their cities safe.

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"We're going to put pressure on these cities," he said on "Justice with Judge Jeanine." "We're going to battle them every step of the way."

Sessions said he will stand firm on his plan to withhold grant money from cities that do not abide by federal immigration laws.

He said some police departments do not necessarily agree with their orders to ignore ICE detainers, but must operate at the pleasure of the mayor.

"They think this is crazy," Sessions said.

Earlier this week, Sessions said illegal immigrant criminals and drug cartels are turning American cities into "warzones."

"It is a direct threat to our legal system, peace and prosperity, he said in Nogales, Ariz.

Watch the "Justice" interview above.

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Hannity: World Experiencing 'Trump Adjustment Syndrome' After Obama

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Sessions on Sanctuary City Leaders: 'We're Going to Battle Them Every Step of the Way' - Fox News Insider

"Last month, we saw a 64 percent reduction in illegal immigration on our southern border."- President Trump, weekly address, April 7, 2017

"My administration is - just a matter of weeks, literally, a short period of time - has brought record reductions to illegal immigration. Record reductions. Down 61 percent since inauguration. General Kelly is doing a fantastic job."- Trump, remarks at North America's Building Trades Unions conference, April 4, 2017

"You see what's happened: 61 percent down now in terms of illegal people coming in. Way, way down in terms of drugs pouring into our country and poisoning our youth. Way down. General Kelly has done a great job."- Trump, remarks at CEO Town Hall on Unleashing American Business, April 4, 2017

"I go to these arenas that have signs all over the place - 'He's kept his promise, he's kept his promise' - because I've done a lot of work. The border is in the best shape it's been in, in decades. Down 61 percent since the inauguration."- Trump, remarks at National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, March 21, 2017

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President Donald Trump is repeatedly touting reductions in apprehensions at the Southwestern border, attributing the decline to his administration and the leadership of Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly.

Trump also claimed that "drugs pouring into our country and poisoning our youth" is "way, way down." We don't know if that is accurate. We repeatedly requested 2017 data of drug seizures at the border from Customs and Border Patrol since Trump made the claim, but still have not received a response. The White House didn't provide data, either. We will return to that claim when CBP provides us the data.

So for now, we dug into Trump's use of the 64 percent and 61 percent figures. The figure is correct, but it requires some caveats. Here's what we found.

First, some context. Southwest border apprehensions have steadily declined since their peak at more than 1.6 million people in fiscal 2000. There have been temporary spikes since 2000 - most recently, there was an uptick in apprehensions of unaccompanied children and their families in 2016, after a significant drop in 2015. Those apprehensions in 2016 were back to 2014 levels, during the height of the flow of Central American migrants illegally crossing the border.

These families and children are fleeing rampant violence and crime in a region called the Northern Triangle, comprising Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Many of the Central American migrants turn themselves in to Border Patrol once they reach the southwest border, seeking asylum status.

This represents a shift in border migration. The number of Mexicans caught trying to cross the border illegally is dropping (more than 400,000 in fiscal 2010 to about 177,000 in 2016), The Washington Post reported. The number of migrants from the Northern Triangle nearly quadrupled in the same period to almost 179,000.

March 2017 total apprehensions were, indeed, very low. It's the lowest monthly number CBP has reported since at least 2000. The 64 percent figure he uses is the total number of people apprehended or "deemed inadmissible" at the southwest border in March 2017 (16,600), compared to the total number in March 2016 (46,150).

The 61 percent figure Trump is referring to is the drop in just the Southwest border apprehensions from January 2017 (31,577) to March 2017 (12,193). A 61 percent drop over three months is dramatic, as Trump indicates. But the January data is a total for the month, not since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 - so the majority of the month's data predated his presidency.

Actually, the best apples-to-apples measure would be to compare the number of people apprehended or deemed inadmissible for February and March of 2016 with February and March of 2017. That calculation shows there was a 52.4 percent (40,170) decrease in 2017 compared to 2016 (84,466). This would be a more accurate look at the impact of Trump's policy changes to date, rather than focusing on just the month of March.

Still, experts caution against putting too much emphasis on the annual, quarterly or monthly numbers, because immigration trends are about flows, not raw numbers. But what is notable about recent apprehensions is that it doesn't fit the seasonal trends. Usually, there's a seasonal lull through winter months, before apprehensions start climbing back up. Apprehensions tend to peak from March to May, before coming back down in the late summer and through the fall.

But in fall 2016, there was an increase in apprehensions, despite the seasonal norm. You can see this increase in the bright blue line of 2016 apprehensions in the graphic below. Apprehensions start to increase in July 2016, and through October (see the red line for fiscal 2017), and peak in November 2016. Then apprehensions start falling from November to March. Looking at the red line in the graphic, it's clear that the downward trend in 2017 so far is different and more drastic than any other year since 2002.

What does this all mean? Why was there an increase in apprehensions leading up to November 2016, the month of the U.S. presidential election? Why did it start to decline after the election, and so drastically into March? Experts say Trump's rhetoric on immigration made a difference.

On-the-ground reactions to federal level immigration policies, such as Trump's executive orders cracking down on illegal immigration, take some time to materialize. But the apparent rush to enter the country before the election indicates people sensed immigration attitudes and policies could drastically change if Trump were elected, said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center.

"There's been a clear and marked decrease in unauthorized border crossings. That's really undeniable," Wilson said. "How much of that is due to policy changes versus rhetoric? It's not really easy to answer that question. My sense is that what we've really seen so far, the big change, has been around rhetoric, communicating. It's been about messaging, and that's worked, essentially. Potential migrants are convinced that this is a difficult time to come to the United States, and they have not been coming."

Still, violence continues to escalate in the Northern Triangle in Central America. In the past two years, Mexico and the United States have both turned away comparable flows of northbound Central American refugees and asylum seekers. That means it's unclear how long this downward trend will last. Our friends at PolitiFact found that smugglers may be waiting to find a new route into the United States.

In 2015, then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson declared apprehensions were at record lows because of measures his agency had taken to respond to the 2014 influx of Central Americans. (We gave him Two Pinocchios at the time.) As we've seen, the Central American crisis continued to persist, leading to a spike in apprehensions the following year. So the reductions in 2015 under Johnson didn't last long.

Trump is citing a documented figure that the total number of apprehensions and people "deemed inadmissible" at the Southwest border declined by 64 percent in March 2017 compared to March 2016, and that there was a 61 percent reduction in Southwest border apprehensions from January 2017 to March 2017.

The number of people apprehended or deemed admissible tend to start climbing in March, yet the number continued to decline in March 2017. That shows how uncharacteristically low the flow over the border has been in March 2017. The 61 percent figure also is unique because such a reduction over three months is quite dramatic and bucks seasonal trends. Total apprehensions in March 2017 were the lowest monthly total since at least 2000.

But his use of the data still lacks some context. Trump says the 61 percent reduction began since Inauguration Day, or Jan. 20. But the January data is a total for the month, so the majority of the data predates his presidency.

As we noted, the most accurate figure would compare February and March of 2016 with those months for 2017. That shows a decrease of 52.4 percent, which is still substantial. Trump's rhetoric during the presidential campaign against illegal immigration and border crossings likely resonated with northbound migrants, experts say.

Yet it's unclear what role Trump's immigration actions as president had, or what role Kelly (who was confirmed on Inauguration Day) had in bringing those figures down. And it's too early for Trump to declare he kept his promise; we don't know whether this is the new normal, or a temporary change.

Read more from the original source:
Fact check: Trump's claim that illegal immigration is down 64 percent ... - Chicago Tribune