Sanctuary Status Deadline to Respond to DOJ is Up. What Did Rhode Island Say?

Tuesday, August 19th was the day responses were due to the US Department of Justice on the Sanctuary status of Rhode Island. Over 30 other states, counties, cities or towns received identical letters.

As a follow up to our story earlier this week – “Rhode Island Governor says DOJ’s Aug. 19 Sanctuary‑Status Deadline ‘Does Not Merit a Response'”, we followed up with just the New England geographies – Connecticut, Vermont, Boston, and Rhode Island.

Here is what the responses were as official responses were being prepared:youtube 

State of Connecticut – “I can confirm that the Office of the Attorney General did receive a letter from Attorney General Bondi falsely stating that Connecticut engages in ‘sanctuary policies.’ There is nothing in our laws or statutes that says Connecticut is a ‘sanctuary’ state. We are not. Trump’s own administration certified Connecticut’s compliance with 8 U.S.C. § 1373 in 2017. Nothing has changed to alter that certification, and we will explain that in our response. Any claim or suggestion that Connecticut has violated or is not in compliance with federal law is false. Connecticut is prepared to pursue all legal rights and remedies to defend our sovereignty and the people and families of Connecticut from federal overreach,” said Attorney General Tong.

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City of Boston:

Mayor Wu had a lengthy press conference to let people know what her response would be. The short version reply is here:

The longer version, with the full press conference can be viewed HERE

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State of Vermont

“Importantly, Vermont is not a sanctuary state. Vermont does not have any law or policy that impedes the enforcement of federal immigration law,” a statement reported in VTDigger.  “In fact, the opposite is true: Vermont State law is very clear that the State does not prohibit or impede any public agency from complying with the lawful requirements of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1373 and 1644,” he stated. In 2017, Gov. Scott wrote about a bill to protect the Constitutional rights of its residents:  “this bill has been carefully crafted through a consensus building process to confirm Vermont remains compliant with federal law, that we would not be established as a ‘sanctuary state,’ and to address the needs and recommendations of our law enforcement partners.”

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State of Rhode Island

The Governor’s original statement: “This generic, non-specific form letter lacks any meaningful detail and does not merit a response.” Attorney General Neronha also pushed back, calling the DOJ’s approach “the tactics of a bully”. We contacted the Governor’s office to see if he amended his statement in any way and as of publication time, we have not heard back.

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Our original article, complete with the actual letter sent out can be read, HERE:

Rhode Island Governor says DOJ’s Aug. 19 Sanctuary‑Status Deadline ‘Does Not Merit a Response’