98 Chapter 3Chapter 3 || Federa lismFedera lismUnpacking the Conflict
Considering all that we’ve discussed in this chapter, let’s apply what we know about
how federalism works to the example of competing federal and local immigration
policies from the beginning of the chapter. When local and federal officials disagree
about sanctuary city policies, who wins? How can we explain this conflict?
Sanctuary city policies have been so contentious because they involve overlapping
federal and local government responsibilities that underpin the principle of federalism.
And often, federal and local policy makers want different things. Trump’s executive
order threatens to interfere with local governments’ police power or their traditional
responsibility to promote public safety in their communities. Local governments’
policies of limited cooperation with ICE threaten to interfere with the federal
government’s traditional national security responsibilities; the Justice Department
sees keeping undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes out
of the United States as part of this responsibility. Some have argued that sanctuary
city policies are unconstitutional under the national supremacy clause, while others
cite the Tenth Amendment in their arguments that the federal government cannot
“commandeer” state governments to enforce federal law.^25(^) The immigration example also highlights the idea that Americans are citizens
of several levels of government simultaneously. Martha Derthick, a leading scholar
of American federalism, says that the basic question of federalism involves choices
about how many communities we will be.^26 If you asked most people in our nation
about their primary geopolitical community, they would probably not say, “I am a
Montanan” or “I am an Arizonan.” Most people would likely say, “I am an American.”
Yet we have strong attachments to our local communities and state identities.
Most Texans would not be caught dead wearing a Styrofoam cheesehead hat, but
thousands of football fans in Green Bay, Wisconsin, regularly don the funny-looking
things to watch their beloved Packers. We are members of multiple communities, a
fact that has had an indelible impact on our political system and the policy choices
that affect our everyday life.
What’s
Your
Take?
Should the federal
government be able to
force states to comply
with the country’s
immigration policy?
Or should state
and local officials be
able to conduct their
business without federal
interference?
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