Attorney General Jeff Sessions briefed the press Friday morning about some of the things that sanctuary cities, those cities that refuse to enforce immigration law or aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will be losing if the Trump administration’s threats become reality. This could prove to be a very expensive decision for many major urban areas who receive millions from Federal grants to support things that range from crime programs to Boys and Girls clubs.

If you are looking for sheer frustration with the status quo, look no further dear reader. I am there. As a resident of one of these sanctuary cities, and a former resident of the suburb of another, I have been deeply frustrated with the lack of enforcement of our immigration laws for many years. As a teenager living on the Central Coast of California the only people I knew who were deported were two British bartenders at my local pub. Even though the city I lived in was known, widely, as the northern outpost of Neustra Familia (aka the Mexican Mafia).

Now living in the Pacific Northwest, I look at our  neighbor to the north, Seattle, as a case study of what kind of disaster could strike other cities like San Francisco and Philadelphia who have declared themselves “sanctuary cities”. Seattle stands to lose multiple millions from their budget if the rules that were outlined by Sessions yesterday are enforced. Like San Francisco, Seattle has filed a law suit against the Trump administration as a preemptive strike. Their suit claims that the policy is “fatally flawed” and “unconstitutional”. With what they stand to lose, I can see why they are suing. According to an article on CNN.com:

“More than $55 million of Seattle’s 2017 operating expenses come from federal funding. More than $99 million is dedicated to longer-term capital investments, the city says. Of the Human Services Department’s 2017 budget, which amounts to about $150 million, more than $42 million — or 28% — derived from those funds, the lawsuit says. That includes $15 million from the budget of the Homeless Strategy and Investment Division for shelter, outreach, hygiene, and health care for homeless people. A Community Development Block Grant provides $4 million for emergency shelter, transitional housing and other services for homeless single men, women, and families. More than $11 million is destined for home-based care for elderly people with disabilities. Support for low-income housing, meals for children in child-care homes and youth violence-prevention programs would also be affected, the lawsuit says.”

Add to that multiple millions that the Seattle PD is scheduled to receive from the Feds for things like bomb suits and terrorism prevention, you can see why they don’t want to lose out. The city would also lose out on funds for seismic retrofitting, which considering the possibility of the Cascadia subduction zone quake occurring sometime soon could prove to be a fatal mistake. Total cost to Seattle for maintaining their sanctuary status if Sessions and Trump keep their promise to punish sanctuary cities-$276.8 million.

Philadelphia stands to lose a mere $26 million, but those dollars fund important programs like a legal clinic for victims of domestic violence, improvements in city courts and gun violence prevention efforts. Los Angeles stands to lose a massive amount of money-$500 million. That money performs a variety of services for Angelenos, from securing the Port of Los Angeles to sheltering the myriad of homeless that call the city home. Believe me, I doubt you will see any “Down and Out In Beverly Hills” type scenarios coming out of that situation. More likely Los Angeles will be forced to deal with things like paying companies to scrape human feces off of their sidewalks if they lose that funding.

Eventually all of the sanctuary cities will have to choose between their virtue signalling, and their commitments to their citizens. Don’t hold your breath dear reader. They will likely all just follow in my state’s footsteps and punish the hardworking, upwardly mobile middle class with additional taxes, because after all we can’t have them turning into more evil rich people one day can we?