Fresno battling Trump over sexual assault testing kit funding, city attorney says
A top Fresno official is concerned that the Trump Administration is “playing politics with public safety” and sexual assault victims by coercing the city into immigration enforcement.
That is the claim from Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz, speaking with The Fresno Bee.
The city applied for $2 million in funding from the federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a program on the books since 2015. The money will help ease the backlog of testing kits. Janz says the federal agency administering the grants is checking to see if the city will comply with federal immigration information sharing.
“I will not allow politics to interfere with these kits being tested. We have been routinely given these grant dollars to have these kits tested,” Janz said. “I’m not going to allow the Trump Administration to play games with survivors of sexual assault.”
DOJ wanted confirmation
The city’s application with the Bureau of Justice Assistance — a unit of the Department of Justice — for the grant funding included certifying compliance with certain federal laws. The BJA sent the city an email on June 16 to confirm the city’s compliance.
“Given that your jurisdiction is located in a State on the U.S. Sanctuary Jurisdiction List ... we request confirmation that the Certification was not inadvertent, and that your jurisdiction will be able to comply with 8 U.S.C. §§ 1373 and 1644,” the email said.
California is on the DOJ’s list.
Sections 1373 and 1644 discuss sending or receiving information to federal immigration agents regarding immigration status.
In a response letter, Janz said the certification was “not inadvertent and was made consistent with existing California law and Ninth Circuit case law.”
The issue, Janz said, was the federal government request for the city to share or receive information regarding immigration status. The state law, the California Values Act, and subsequent court interpretation, do not require sharing in most circumstances.
“This Trump administration can’t put requirements on us being awarded these grants that require us to help them with immigration enforcement,” Janz said. “If they want to have a debate about immigration enforcement, we can have that debate, but not at the expense of sexual assault victims.”
The Trump Administration has not pulled money for the kit testing yet, but Janz considers the certification check “a pretext.”
Janz said the “the ball’s in their court.” Results could be dire if there is a funding impasse, he said.
“We’re going to have to put testing on hold, or we’re going to have to find other sources of funding. We’re running up against tough budget times,” Janz said.
Prior to serving as city attorney, Janz prosecuted sex crimes for the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
“I’m not trying to make politics out of this,” Janz said. “I just want the money, so we can test these kits.”
The White House referred comments to the DOJ. The DOJ did not respond by time of publication.
