IMMIGRATION/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The municipal-bond market has an early read on President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening sanctuary cities: more bark than bite.
The Jan. 25 order’s threat to cut federal funds to cities and counties that decline to cooperate with federal authorities enforcing policies on illegal immigrants is unlikely to hurt the municipalities’ credit, at least in the short term, according to credit-ratings firms, analysts and investors.
Two such cities—New York and Philadelphia—are out selling more than $1 billion of bonds but only made brief references to the order in marketing documents.
Officials from cities like Philadelphia and Los Angeles are still trying to figure out how much of their budgets could be on the line. The order directs the Office of Management and Budget to provide details on the federal grant money cities receive, but the White House hasn’t yet identified the funds it can shut off.”
– Jon Kamp, Scott Calvert, and Aaron Kuriloff, “Sanctuary Cities May Not See Borrowing Hit From Trump Order,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 15, 2017