Massachusetts and other New England law enforcement programs stand to lose millions in federal Department of Justice grants, with Boston likely to receive the brunt of the impact, if the Trump administration carries through with a threat to punish so-called "sanctuary" cities.

Federal grant records show that New England agencies received over $7 million in DOJ grants last year. Nationwide, the grants totaled some $8 billion.

On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned communities the Trump administration has deemed ‘un-cooperative’ with federal immigration authorities that they would become ineligible for substantial grants administered by the United States Department of Justice. 

The announcement marks the most recent development in a long-standing vow by President Donald Trump to punish so-called “sanctuary” cities by withholding federal funds. In January, Trump signed an executive order pledging to ensure that “jurisdictions that fail to comply with applicable federal law do not receive federal funds, except as mandated by law.”

How, whether, and/or to what extent such an order might actually be carried out has remained an open question.

Federal funds come to communities from myriad sources and can include funding for everything from colleges to hospitals to school lunch programs. And legal experts have questioned whether across-the-board cuts in federal funds would withstand inevitable legal challenges: the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government may not “commandeer” states into enforcing federal law.

Sessions’ announcement, however, represented a narrower and potentially more tangible threat: cuts to Department of Justice grants to so-called ‘sanctuary’ communities.

So, what would that look like here?

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a report listing, among other things, nearly 100 communities and agencies across the United States that have adopted policies ICE deems in some way “non-cooperative” with certain immigration enforcement efforts – primarily, communities that refuse to hold individuals in custody based solely on an ICE “detainer,” effectively a request to hold an individual, without criminal charges or a criminal warrant, on the basis of an alleged or suspected immigration violation.

The list included nine communities across New England, five in Massachusetts: Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Amherst and Northhampton.

 In 2016, the last year for which comprehensive data was available, those communities received just over $7 million in DoJ grants; the City of Boston received the lion’s share of those grants, about $4 million, most of that for Boston Police Department programs.

City of Boston

Boston Police Dept Justice Assistance Grant …. $447,390

Boston Police Dept DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction … $211,166

Boston Police Department

FY 16 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program: Expansion ... $200,000

National Crimes Statistics Exchange Implementation Assistance Program … $2,172,522

Boston Public Health Commission

FY 16 Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program … $1,000,000

City of Cambridge

2016 Justice Assistance Grant … $32,576

City of Somerville

2016 Justice Assistance Grant … $20,004

City of Providence, RI

Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program … $375,000

Relationship Building with the Providence Community … $225,539

City of Hartford, CT

Hartford Technology Innovation for Public Safety … $245,681

FY 16 Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program … $1,000,000