U.S. Homeland Security Secretary says sanctuary cities should not receive federal funding

HOUSTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kirstjen Nielsen, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Tuesday the federal government wants to eliminate so-called sanctuary states and sanctuary cities.

Nielsen made such remarks when he was visiting Austin, Texas and meeting with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday.

According to the federal government's definition of the terms, sanctuary states and cities are those that do not collaborate with immigration authorities by transferring custody of undocumented immigrants who are detained at a county or city jail.

Nielsen noted that those localities should not receive certain federal grants.

"If these sanctuary states and cities do not want to protect their citizens by upholding federal law, then they are not entitled to the federal government's money," said Nielsen.

Recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data shows that there are two sanctuary counties in the State of Texas -- Dallas and Travis.

During her visit to Texas, Nielsen also discussed the post-Harvey recovery with Abbott. Enditem