After meeting with U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions Tuesday, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza says the city risks almost none of its federal funding.

Previously Sessions, and the federal administration, threatened to cut funding to so-called sanctuary cities – cities the federal government considers non-compliant with federal immigration enforcement. Providence refuses to honor immigration detainers without a criminal warrant, nor will city police ask for a resident’s legal status.

Providence gets an estimated $70 million in federal funds, roughly 10 percent of the city’s budget.

In a meeting with representatives of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Sessions discussed the Trump administration’s goals for public safety.

Elorza said the meeting also helped narrow down the meaning of what a sanctuary city is.

“Without that clarity and without a set definition of what a sanctuary city is, then you just can’t have a conversation,” said Elorza after the meeting.

Elorza said Sessions better outlined what put a city at risk of losing funds. He said Sessions outlined 8 U.S.C. 1373, a federal law which prohibits policies that prevent local law enforcement from working with federal law enforcement.

“What we got was that if you’re not in compliance with Section 1373, if that’s the definition of a sanctuary city, then I don’t think there are any sanctuary cities in the United States of America,” said Elorza.  

Despite the clarity, Elorza says that there are still mixed messages coming from the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security when it comes to local immigration enforcement.

The meeting comes as a federal judge blocked President Trump’s attempt to withhold funding from the so-called sanctuary cities on Tuesday, saying the president had no authority to attach additional conditions to federal funds.