A federal webpage listing three Finger Lakes counties as “sanctuary jurisdictions” has been taken down, just days after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) labeled Yates, Wayne, and Tompkins counties as non-compliant with federal immigration enforcement.
The designation, announced Friday, applies to areas that allegedly limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities or provide protections to undocumented immigrants. All three counties were expected to receive formal notices of alleged non-compliance.
Local officials have strongly disputed the label. Some moved quickly to contact DHS, seeking clarification and defending their cooperation with federal law enforcement.
The now-disabled list also included 12 additional counties and several cities—among them Rochester and Ithaca—as so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
The Department of Homeland Security has not yet commented on the removal of the webpage.
