The Trump administration has increased efforts to pressure cities and states that do not fully support U.S. immigration enforcement. These places are often called “sanctuary jurisdictions” because they limit how much they cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), especially when it comes to helping arrest or deport undocumented immigrants.

The government created a public list of these sanctuary areas. This list looks at things like:

• Whether a city or state calls itself a sanctuary.
• If they have laws that protect undocumented immigrants.
• How much they help federal immigration officers.
• If they block the sharing of information about immigrants with ICE.

President Trump signed an order in April that tells the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General to regularly publish this list. The goal is to name and shame these areas.

The administration also wants to cut off federal funding (grants and contracts) to cities and states that are on this list. If those areas still don’t cooperate, the federal government says it can take legal steps to force them to comply.

There is no official or legal definition of a “sanctuary jurisdiction.” Usually, it means a place where police or local officials don’t help ICE as much as the federal government would like.

ICE, which enforces immigration laws across the U.S., has about 6,000 officers. To expand their reach, ICE often relies on help from local law enforcement. One tool they use is a program called 287(g), which allows local police to help with immigration enforcement. Under Trump, the number of these partnerships grew quickly.

Cities that don’t work with ICE say they do this to build trust with immigrant communities. They believe people will be more likely to report crimes if they don’t fear being deported. These cities also argue that immigration enforcement is the federal government’s job—not something local police should handle with their limited resources.

The Trump administration has already taken several steps to punish sanctuary cities, including trying to block federal money. Some of these actions have been challenged in court.