At least 40 mayors have made it clear to immigration minister Gerd Leers they will not cooperate with the deportation of illegal immigrants or failed asylum seekers if there is a risk to public order, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday.

The stand-off comes after Leers declared the police have to follow his orders when deportations are to be carried out. Technically, the police are under the control of mayors in the main police regions.
Now the body representing the 40 local authorities where refugee and deportation centres are located has written to the minister pointing out their mayors are in charge when public order issues are at stake.
War criminal
The letter coincides with a row in the Zuid-Holland district of Giessenlanden, where the local mayor has told her police officers not to cooperate with the deportation of a 45-year-old Afghan man. He is to be deported as a suspected war criminal but his wife and family have been given leave to stay.
In addition to the protest from the 40 mayors, some 145 local authority areas have signed a petition calling for an amnesty for youngsters who have lived in the Netherlands for at least eight years and now face being told to leave.
Mayors have also protested at Leers’ decision to impose a quota on the police in terms of rounding up illegal immigrants.
Earlier stories
More councils criticise illegal immigrant deportation quota
Support grows for child refugee amnesty plan