{"id":121149,"date":"2026-02-16T11:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:48:14","slug":"montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149","title":{"rendered":"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A western state\u2019s governor and attorney general are launching an investigation into potential violations of a statewide ban on sanctuary cities and sanctuary-jurisdictional policies, pledging zero tolerance for failure to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte<\/a> told Fox News Digital that he and Attorney General Austin Knudsen, both Republicans, will investigate the capital city of Helena under SB 200, which permits civil legal action and enforcement of fines against jurisdictions found in violation.<\/p>\n

“In Montana, we don\u2019t tolerate defiance and we support our law enforcement officers,” Gianforte told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

DEM GOVERNOR IN DEEP-RED STATE CALLS FOR ICE PULLOUT, TRIGGERING CLASH OVER ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“While the attorney general\u2019s initial investigation will focus on the city of Helena, we\u2019re really sending a message to all local governments across the state: If you are found to be in violation of state law<\/a>, there will be penalties.”<\/p>\n

In response to Helena City Commissioners\u2019 vote to prevent local coordination with federal immigration enforcement, Gianforte and Knudsen announced the decision will be investigated as a potential violation of the sanctuary city ban originally authored by state Rep. Kenneth Holmlund, R-Miles City.<\/p>\n

Gianforte said he has “serious concerns” about the resolution\u2019s compliance with state law and said that under the sanctuary city ban, no state or local agency may refuse to cooperate with DHS.<\/p>\n

THIS IS HOW TRUMP CAN BREAK DEFIANT SANCTUARY CITIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In a letter to Knudsen formally requesting his office\u2019s cooperation, Gianforte laid out how “securing the border has been a top priority of President Donald J. Trump after the previous administration let nearly 11 million illegal immigrants enter freely into the United States under their watch.”<\/p>\n

He referenced Trump\u2019s mass deportation efforts and said that it is unfortunate to see “recent events” elsewhere in the U.S. that have put immigration agents in danger.<\/p>\n

In that regard, he described a recent Helena City Council vote as ordering local officers not to get involved in actions to assist other agencies nor to detain or stop a person based on suspicion of immigration law or status infractions.<\/p>\n

JD VANCE, ICE FLIP SCRIPT ON SANCTUARY CITY LEADERS AS ‘CHAOS’ ERUPTS ACROSS MN: ‘THIS IS DANGEROUS’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“This resolution is clearly designed to obstruct federal law enforcement operations,” Gianforte said.<\/p>\n

Knudsen told the Flathead Beacon<\/a> that Helena appears to be “thumbing its nose to the Montana Legislature” and must understand it does not make state law.<\/p>\n

“I encourage [the city] to retain counsel [and] get a lobbyist\u2026” he said in part.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the city of Helena told Fox News Digital it had not received any formal communication on the matter from Gianforte, and added that “as a general practice, the City does not provide comment on pending or potential litigation matters.”<\/p>\n

“[Helena’s] resolution was drafted with careful consideration of applicable local, state, and federal law, and the City believes the resolution is consistent with those legal requirements,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The City remains committed to upholding all applicable federal and state laws.<\/p>\n

Knudsen\u2019s office signaled it is only officially looking at Helena, but local reports also pointed to concerns about Missoula \u2014 the state\u2019s second-largest behind Billings.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Missoula told the Montana Free Press it has never been and is not currently a sanctuary city, while adding that its police officers do not inquire about immigration status in public interactions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-ice-limits <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A western state\u2019s governor and attorney general are launching an investigation into potential violations of a statewide ban on sanctuary cities and sanctuary-jurisdictional policies, pledging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-121149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMontana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A western state\u2019s governor and attorney general are launching an investigation into potential violations of a statewide ban on sanctuary cities and sanctuary-jurisdictional policies, pledging […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-16T16:48:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\"},\"headline\":\"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-16T16:48:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149\"},\"wordCount\":584,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Market News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149\",\"name\":\"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits - Wall Street PR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-16T16:48:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"description\":\"Latest News From WallStreet\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"width\":537,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Wall Street PR\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits - Wall Street PR","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits - Wall Street PR","og_description":"A western state\u2019s governor and attorney general are launching an investigation into potential violations of a statewide ban on sanctuary cities and sanctuary-jurisdictional policies, pledging […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149","og_site_name":"Wall Street PR","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-16T16:48:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":715,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36"},"headline":"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits","datePublished":"2026-02-16T16:48:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149"},"wordCount":584,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Market News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149","name":"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits - Wall Street PR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-16T16:48:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/montana-governor-launches-sanctuary-crackdown-probes-capital-city-over-ice-limits-121149#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Montana governor launches sanctuary crackdown, probes capital city over ICE limits"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","name":"Wall Street PR","description":"Latest News From WallStreet","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization","name":"Wall Street PR","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","width":537,"height":70,"caption":"Wall Street PR"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121149"},{"taxonomy":"stock_ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stock_ticker?post=121149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}