U.S. may cut funding to sanctuary cities, attorney general says

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Monday that cities and states that protect immigrant felons from federal immigration laws may see cuts in grants from the Justice Department.

"Failure to deport aliens who are convicted of criminal offences puts whole communities at risk, especially immigrant communities in the very sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to protect the perpetrators," Sessions told a White House news briefing.

He said the department would withhold, and potentially claw back, grants to so-called sanctuary cities and other localities that are not in compliance with federal immigration law.

Sessions said one Justice Department office was expecting to award more than $4.1 billion in grants this fiscal year.

• Trump administration plans could lead to vast increase in deportations