President-elect Donald Trump has said an early priority will be cutting off federal funds to “sanctuary cities” like Chicago. But that could be tough to do, according to Michael Pagano, Dean of UIC’s college of Planning and Public Affairs.

The city of Chicago is expecting about $1.3 billion dollars from federal grants in its next fiscal year — authorized by dozens of different federal laws, each of which would have to be amended by Congress. 

Theoretically, Congress could do a type of global-find-and-replace, Pagano said. However, he said, every member voting on it would want to protect their own constituents.