Most Sanctuary Cities Still Enjoy Federal Funding Despite Trump Threats

A vast majority of the cities and townships that applied for federal law enforcement grants have received them, despite attempts from the Trump administration to withhold funding from sanctuary cities.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 to block federal funding from jurisdictions that harbor illegal immigrants and refuse to work with federal immigration authorities. The Department of Justice took the fight a step further in November 2017 when it targeted 29 specific cities, metro areas, counties and states, accusing them of violating federal law with their “sanctuary policies.”

In letters sent to the 29 different jurisdictions, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned they must comply with federal law or else risk losing millions of dollars in federal funds.

However, 16 months since those letters were issued, all but one of the jurisdictions has either received or been cleared to receive funds, the Justice Department confirmed to the Associated Press. Of the 29 localities, which include cities across the country such as Burlington, Vermont and Los Angeles, California, only the state of Oregon has not yet been cleared to receive federal grants from 2017.

The Trump administration’s failure to block federal law enforcement funding to sanctuary cities stems from a string of courtroom losses.

Two California counties successfully filed a lawsuit in a district court against the administration over its threats to deny federal funds to sanctuary cities, with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the court’s opinion in August 2018. The U.S. Conference of Mayors also filed a lawsuit against the measure in 2018, and a federal court in September of that year temporarily blocked the Department of Justice from withholding funds from cities represented by the Conference of Mayors.

The Justice Department is mulling whether to appeal some of the court decisions.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/03/sanctuary-cities-still-receiving-funds/

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Islamic State Fighter Got Medical Treatment in Sweden, Then Returned to Fight

Islamic State fighter Khaled Shahadeh is said to have not only returned to Sweden from the Middle East for medical treatment, but was able to return to the battlefield afterwards.

The 28-year-old is one regarded as a particular threat to Sweden should he return to the Scandinavian country yet again, Expressen reports.

Shahadeh went to fight for the Islamic State in Syria, but the ISIS fighter returned to Sweden after being injured in the shoulder during a battle, according to his father.

After coming back to Sweden, Shahadeh’s injury was treated by Swedish medical professionals — after which he once again departed the country and headed back to Islamic State controlled territory to fight for the terror group.

Thomas Lindén, Chairman of the Medical Association’s Ethics and Responsibility Council, defended the medical treatment given to the Islamic State radical, saying: “We provide care to the poor and the rich, we provide care to murderers who are in prison.”

“If it is so that you should punish people then other bodies in society may do so. Health care should not be part of the punishment apparatus,” he claimed.

The case is not the first time an Islamic State fighter has received medical treatment in a country outside of ISIS-held territory. In 2015, a Turkish citizen who became an Islamic State commander received treatment in Turkey after being wounded in battle.

Sweden, like many other countries in Europe, is currently facing the possibility of Islamic State members returning to the country now Western- and Russian-backed forces in the region have largely destroyed the group’s physical caliphate.

Some Islamic State fighters have already returned to Sweden. According to the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) 150 or so ISIS fighters are back in the country.

Earlier this week it was claimed that some returned fighters in the heavily migrant-populated city of Malmö had also been recruiting for the terror group in so-called “basement mosques”.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/03/islamic-state-fighter-given-medical-treatment-in-sweden-then-allowed-to-return-to-fight/

Bolton dodges question on US support for Saudi, UAE dictators while discussing Venezuela

US National Security Adviser John Bolton has refused to answer a question about Washington’s long-running support for dictatorships around the world amid its push for regime change in Venezuela.

During an interview with CNN on Sunday, Jake Tapper, the host, confronted Bolton over his repeated calls to ouster Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom he calls a “dictator,” and questioned Washington's support for allied dictators in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“I’d like to see as broad a coalition as we can put together to replace Maduro, to replace the whole corrupt regime, that’s what we are trying to do,” Bolton said.

When pressed, he invoked the Monroe Doctrine to claim that the administration of President Donald Trump would rather have a democratic Western hemisphere than worry about other parts of the world.

“This (Venezuela) is a country in our hemisphere,” he said. “It’s been the objective of American presidents going back to Ronald Reagan to have a completely democratic hemisphere.”

He did not explain why the US has been waging so many wars on the Eastern hemisphere, specifically in the Middle East, under the pretext of bringing democracy and ending what it called dictatorships.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/03/03/590066/US-Bolton-dictators-Venezuela-Maduro-Guaido-Saudi-UAE