© 2024 New England Public Media

FCC public inspection files:
WGBYWFCRWNNZWNNUWNNZ-FMWNNI

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@nepm.org or call 413-781-2801.
PBS, NPR and local perspective for western Mass.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Two Western Mass. Communities Could Lose Grants Under DOJ Plan

File photo
/
Daily Hampshire Gazette
An SUV for the police department in Northampton, Mass.

At least two communities in western Massachusetts could lose federal funding from the Department of Justice. That's if the department follows through on its pledge to cut grant money from cities that do not comply with federal immigration requests to detain individuals suspected of being in the country illegally.

Last week, both Amherst and Northampton landed on a federal list of so-called "sanctuary cities." 

Matt Segal, legal director of the Massachusetts ACLU, said his organization believes it's actually illegal under state law for local police to carry out detainer requests.

"When the federal government says, 'This is what we're asking state officers to do,' what it's really saying is, 'We are asking states to either violate or change their very constitutions,'" Segal said.

The Justice Department said this week it will seek to "claw-back" past grants to some sanctuary communities. Northampton has received close to $100,000 in DOJ grants since 2009. Amherst has been awarded about $60,000 since 2005.

Related Content