Trump administration increases pressure on 'sanctuary jurisdictions,' including Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Sanctuary cities are facing growing pressure from the Trump administration amid the president's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Sanctuary cities, or jurisdictions, are areas that do not cooperate with immigration enforcement.

The Department of Homeland Security put out a list of 500 jurisdictions that it says are obstructing federal immigration laws and are standing in the way of the president's mass deportations agenda.

Some of the cities on the list include the city of Philadelphia, along with Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Counties.

In New Jersey, Burlington and Cumberland Counties were also named, as well as New Castle County, Delaware.

The list was compiled using a number of factors, including whether the cities or localities identified themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they complied already with federal officials enforcing immigration laws, if they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration enforcement or had any legal protections for people in the country illegally, according to the department.

"These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a press release.

President Trump signed an executive order last month saying that sanctuary jurisdictions could lose funding for federal grants or contracts.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.