The Department of Justice today sent a letter to King County and Seattle leaders strongly encouraging them to review local policies that protect immigrants, part of the latest move by the Trump Administration in its ongoing crackdown of so-called "sanctuary cities."

The letters sent to King County Council President Joe McDermott and interim Seattle Mayor Tim Burgess say their jurisdictions' “sanctuary policies” may be illegal and could result in the loss of federal grants.

Law enforcement in Seattle and King County received a joint $673,166 grant in 2016, according to the Justice Department.

The letters, first reported by Crosscut, specifically highlight policies that prohibit law enforcement from questioning people about their immigration status. They also point to a practice at the King County lockup wherein jail officials ignore requests from immigration authorities to hold detained people after their scheduled release date. Both policies are standard among “sanctuary cities.” Seattle and King County were among 29 sanctuary jurisdictions that received letters from the Justice Department today, according to a press release from the Office of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Notably, the letters say federal authorities are not making a determination on whether Seattle or King County are in violation with laws. But they do ask the governments to submit a response by December 8 on whether they have policies a federal rule on coordination between local law enforcement and immigration authorities.

“I urge all jurisdictions found to be potentially out of compliance in this preliminary review to reconsider their policies that undermine the safety of their residents,” Sessions said in a statement.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to pull federal funding from sanctuary cities, part of his anti-immigrant platform that appealed to his nativist base. A crackdown targeting sanctuary cities followed his inauguration. Back in January, the Justice Department began publishing lists shaming cities with sanctuary policies. And in late September, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement rounded out undocumented immigrants in sanctuary cities to make a point against them.

Officials from Seattle and King County have remained resolute in their commitment to their sanctuary policies. City Attorney Pete Holmes in March filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its threats to pull funding, rebuking claims from Sessions that sanctuary policies make jurisdictions less safe. The opposite is true, Seattle officials argued.

But the first legal blow to Trump's sanctuary crackdown happened on the other coast. On the same day Sessions’ office sent its letters, a federal court in Philadelphia ruled that the Trump administration can’t withhold more than $1 million in grants from the city over its sanctuary policies.

McDermott did not immediately responded to The Stranger's request for comment. King County Executive Dow Constantine told us, in response to the letter, "First, we do follow federal law. Second, I am genuinely impressed that the AG, who this week spent most of his time backtracking on lies to Congress about Russia, has time to demand that we unlawfully detain our residents. "

UPDATE: Mayor Burgess has issued a statement.

We received a letter today from the US Department of Justice expressing ‘concern’ over a law that has been on our books since 2003 that prevents city government employees, including police officers, from inquiring about an individual’s immigration status with limited exceptions. We adopted that law so that no one would fear reporting a crime or approaching a police officer to request help, especially victims of domestic violence.

Now, the Trump Administration is threatening to withdraw federal grant money from Seattle that is used to fund the work of three civilian crime prevention specialists in our police department. These prevention specialists work with people throughout the city and give advice on how to avoid being a crime victim, how to report crimes that do occur, and how to take proactive steps to improve the physical environment to reduce crime. It’s ironic that a president who says he wants to reduce crime and help crime victims works to remove funding from programs that do exactly that.

The same city ordinance chapter that the Trump Administration is using to threaten us also says city employees are directed to cooperate with, and not hinder, enforcement of federal immigration laws. Today’s letter is more bluster and bullying by the president based on his ideologically driven fixation on immigrants and refugees.

Seattle is a welcoming city. We value the contributions made by the neighbors who live among us. We are proud of their presence.

UPDATE: Here's mayor-elect Jenny Durkan.

This action is both immoral and illegal. It threatens the safety not just of our immigrant families but of all of Seattle which relies on the police resources they seek to cut. Unfortunately for the Trump administration, multiple federal judges have ruled that the Department of Justice cannot withholding federal law enforcement aid to sanctuary cities. Seattle is and will continue to be a Sanctuary City, and our City will fight Trump every step of the way against these illegal attempts to withhold funds. I'll say it again: Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump keep your hands off Seattle

And King County Council President Joe McDermott.

A press release and letter posted online won’t push King County to start violating the civil liberties of our residents. It would be nice if Attorney General Sessions would decide to recall his oath of office to uphold our Constitution and stop these misinformation and intimidation tactics – there’s enough fake news coming from Russia as it is. King County is a welcoming, safe place for all and will continue to be so in spite of this newest attempt to create confusion and fear in our communities.