Tonight across East End, 9 vigils to be held for civilians killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis

New York and a dozen other Democrat-led states are part of a federal funding review ordered by the White House’s budget office, as President Donald Trump vows to block the flow of funds to states as early as Sunday that do not fully cooperate with his immigration crackdown.

Laura Figueroa Hernandez reports in NEWSDAY that the Office of Management and Budget, in a memo sent to federal departments last week, ordered agency leaders to provide a detailed listing of all federal grants and funds given to 14 Democratic states and Washington, D.C.

“This information will be used to better understand the scope of funding in certain states and localities in order to facilitate efforts to reduce the improper and fraudulent use of those funds through administrative means or legislative proposals to Congress,” reads the Jan. 20 memo obtained by Newsday, first reported by Real Clear Politics.

Only the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs were exempt from the request, according to the three-page memo.

The sweeping review comes after President Trump in a Jan. 13 speech to the Detroit Economic Club said his administration planned to stop “making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities” starting Feb. 1.

Trump has already moved to freeze funding for other New York projects and programs, including $3.4 billion for child care and social services programs and the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project, which project leaders have warned will stop construction of the massive Hudson River rail tunnel starting Feb. 6 if funds are not released.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said the state will sue the Trump administration if it blocks additional funding over New York's immigration policies.

The administration has taken aim at the state’s 2019 Green Light Law, which allows individuals to apply for a driver’s license regardless of citizenship status. The law also requires the state Department of Motor Vehicles to notify the license holder "when immigration enforcement agencies request" their information.

“This is just a threat to intimidate states like New York into bowing into submission, and that is something we'll never do," Hochul told reporters in Albany on Jan. 15. "So I say this: You touch any more money from the State of New York, we'll see you in court."

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On the East Hampton Town Police Department’s wish list this year are automatic translators that would be used during traffic stops to facilitate communication with Spanish-speaking drivers and passengers.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that first presented at the Town Board work session on January 20, the translator devices would cost $115,000 in the capital budget and would come from a company called Axon, which has a contract with Town Police for the currently used body cameras. Axon first rolled out the new technology about two years ago, but it wasn’t available to East Hampton Town Police until now.

Currently, when translation is needed during a traffic stop, the responding officer calls in a Spanish-speaking officer to assist or uses a department cellphone, donated by Organización Latino Americana, to call a “language line” service, which provides translation for Spanish and a host of other languages.

The Axon translators are “push to talk,” meaning the officer would hold down a button and the machine, which attaches to a body camera, would provide real-time translation between the officer and the person who had been stopped.

“This will allow immediate real-time translation services in any situation that our officers encounter, without having to bring down another officer to translate, without having to sit down with the language line,” said East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo. “Tremendous new technology... a really positive thing for the community and for our officers.”

East Hampton Town Police have been working with...