US Sanctuary City

Last Updated on: December 13th, 2024


What is a Sanctuary City?

In the United States and Canada, a sanctuary city is a municipality that has adopted a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them for violating federal immigration laws in the country in which they are now living. (source)

US Sanctuary City Statistics and Facts

Total number of US sanctuary cities:

Approximately 600 cities and counties (2023)


Total number of sanctuary counties in the US:

Approximately 300 counties (2023)


Number of US sanctuary states:

11 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington) (2023)


Estimated amount of Federal funding that sanctuary cities receive annually:

$27 billion (2017)


Sanctuary City that receives the most annual Federal funding:

New York (2017)


A full and map of sanctuary cities can be found here.


See also: US Immigration Statistics and Facts



Please note that some of these numbers are easier to find than others. Most of these fun facts come from internet reports and may not be official tallies. No information contained on DMR should be relied upon to make investment decisions. Basically, this is the best I can find and I don’t guarantee anything to be 100%.