WASHINGTON — In her 2026 budget proposal, Mayor Muriel Bowser included a provision to do away with an existing D.C. law that limits the cooperation between city agencies and federal immigration authorities.
Under the Sanctuary Values Amendment Act, local law enforcement and the DC Jail can only hold an immigrant beyond their release date—so that they can be picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) —if federal authorities have a warrant or judicial order.
“It’s the only place that we found in our law that references D.C. as a sanctuary,” Bowser told reporters last Thursday. “We are happy to work with the Council on making sure that provisions that are reflected there are raised up, but we don’t think that having it in statute is the way.”…