PHILADELPHIA – City officials today praised the Final Judgment and Decree issued by U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson in the City’s lawsuit against the Department of Justice for withholding criminal justice grant funding in response to Philadelphia’s immigration policy. Judge Baylson ordered the Department of Justice to release the City’s funding, and to issue the City’s 2017 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) award documents “without further delay” and within 45 days of the final judgment.
The Final Judgment, released late Thursday, follows the decision issued by Judge Baylson on June 6, in which he found that the three immigration-related conditions imposed by the federal government for Philadelphia to receive Byrne JAG funding are unconstitutional.
The Final Judgment further reiterates that the City’s position — that it will cooperate with ICE when a judicial warrant is obtained — is entirely reasonable:
- “To the extent an agency of the United States Government has probable cause to assert that an individual in the custody of the City of Philadelphia is a criminal alien (as previously defined by this Court in City of Philadelphia v. Sessions, 2018 WL 2725503, *n. 3, (E.D. Pa. June 6, 2018)), and seeks transfer to federal custody of such individual within a city facility, it shall secure an order from a judicial officer of the United States for further detention, as allowed by law.”
Judge Baylson also released a separate memorandum excoriating the Justice Department for its reluctance to seek judicial warrants, saying DOJ has “failed to come up with any legitimate reason why it refuses to request a court order”:
- “If the Department of Justice continues in its obdurate refusal to institute a procedure to obtain court orders, it cannot lay any blame other than on itself for the resulting situation of criminal aliens being at-large when, under settled law, with a court order, the Department of Justice may secure custody of them in a secured City prison facility, and immediately institute removal proceedings.”
Mayor Jim Kenney:
“Judge Baylson’s thoughtful order and memorandum mirror and fully vindicate what my Administration has maintained since I came into office: the City has, and will, fully cooperate with ICE when it obtains a judicial warrant. Philadelphia has historically cooperated with federal law enforcement agencies in fighting crime. We value those relationships because they make our City safer. Over the past decade as our immigrant populations have grown, we’ve also seen our crime rates reach the lowest level they’ve been in 30 years. As Judge Baylson makes crystal clear, the only impediments to ICE detaining the individuals it seeks are of its own creation.”
City Solicitor Marcel S. Pratt:
“The Final Judgment and Decree provides the City the precise relief that it sought in the lawsuit: a permanent injunction prohibiting Attorney General Jeff Sessions from imposing these unconstitutional conditions on critical criminal justice funding and a clear path for the City to receive its long-awaited funds. The court also reiterated that our policy of requiring ICE to provide judicial warrants with its detainers is completely justified by judicial precedent and prevents civil rights violations.”