Leftist Democrat “sanctuary cities” have been a magnet for illegal aliens flooding into the United States for decades. But they have become much more visible and despised in recent years.
By defying, and sometimes blocking, federal law enforcement efforts to round up illegals—often including foreign violent criminals—these jurisdictions, including sometimes even entire states, have become havens for tent cities, crime and lawlessness.
They are also impeding the execution of President Trump’s mass deportation efforts promised during his campaign. Offending Democrat cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston and Denver bar officials from holding suspects beyond their release dates solely because they are wanted for being in the U.S. illegally.
Because of that, Trump officials have targeted sanctuary policies right out of the gate in his second term. His team has sued Chicago and Illinois as well as New York state over violations of various immigration laws.
And beyond that, Trump says he is now “working on papers” to shut down these liberal hell holes by withholding federal funds from all jurisdictions that do not fully cooperate in the enforcement of US immigration law.
Action may be imminent.
“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!”
Trump didn’t specify how broadly he would withhold federal funding.
Withholding federal funding from cities and states was an element of his Jan. 20 executive order titled, “Protecting The American People Against Invasion.”
While there’s no strict definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities, as noted earlier, the terms generally describe limited cooperation with federal law enforcement, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In his order, Trump defined sanctuary jurisdictions as cities and states that “seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations.”
In order to implement its mandate to enforce U.S. immigration laws nationwide, ICE often seeks state and local help, particularly for large-scale deportations, requesting that police and sheriffs alert them to aliens in their jurisdictions designated for deportation and hold them, without judicial warrants, until federal officers take custody.
Major sanctuary cities include New York City, Denver, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia. The New York Times estimated earlier this year there were about a dozen states that considered themselves sanctuaries and hundreds of cities.
San Francisco, for example, has policies that extend beyond prohibiting assisting ICE. The city also prevents city employees from asking about immigration status on city applications, limiting services based on immigration status, giving illegal alien custody release information to ICE, and more.
Meanwhile, CBS News reported that:
The [Chicago] mayor’s office released a statement on the threats saying in part, “The City of Chicago complies with all federal and state laws. Mayor Johnson’s administration will vigorously defend Chicagoans from any unconstitutional or unlawful attempts to strip residents of the funding and services that they are entitled to.”
The outlet added:
The City of Chicago receives billions of federal grant dollars annually. In 2024, Chicago Public Schools received $1.3 billion in federal funds, and the city expects to receive nearly $2 billion in federal funding for the CTA Red Line expansion.
It also noted that:
Early in his second term, Trump turned his ire toward Chicago and other sanctuary cities. His pick for border czar, Tom Homan, warned Chicago in January that it would be “ground zero” for mass deportations once Trump took office. Homan warned the Trump administration would flood Chicago with ICE agents “looking for criminals and gang members.”
And, as Forbes notes:
Trump tried a similar move during his first term in 2017 when he signed an executive order alleging sanctuary jurisdictions had “caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic,” and it was challenged in court by New York City and seven states. The states won initially and were backed up by three appeals courts, Politico reported, but the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately ruled in Trump’s favor. The Trump policy was reversed by former President Joe Biden’s administration.
And we know what came next. An unprecedented massive flood of illegals pouring in across the border with Mexico and swamping and overwhelming cities and towns across the country.
Sanctuary City advocates say cooperating with ICE means victims of crime and witnesses who are in the U.S. illegally won’t come forward out of fear of being deported. Some local and state officials add that they want their localities to welcome immigrants, even though illegal aliens aren’t really immigrants, but simply foreigners here without permission.
Still, even if true, and if their presence only affected those jurisdictions, they could be ignored. But they don’t. They impact all of us in other cities and communities and our pocketbooks and taxes.
It’s long past due for them to pay for their idiotic policies themselves and not get federal funds to help enable their dangerous lunacy.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Add Athens, GA to the list.
Simply stated, the LEGAL CITIIZDNS of the United States REFUSE to have their tax $$$ used to SHIELD LAWBREAKERS who are in the country ILLEGALLY.
END AND ABOLISH ANY AND ALL “SANCTUARY CITIES” AND DEPORT ALL IWHO HAVE ENTERED THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY.
Send some to LA CA area
My contention is that every single person who is int this country illegally, regardless of age, should be DEPORTED
As President Trump has stated, self-or deporting and registering prior to deportation will insure the ability to apply to come into the country LEGALLY.
The invasion actually started in the 1950’s when many day workers who crossed into the USA for a workday and returned to Mexico in the evening, started to STAY and bring their families into the country, enrolling their children in our schools,
Nobody thought anything about it and the authorities seldom, if ever visited the towns springing. up, inhabited mainly by these families coming in I will have to say, that those early illegal crossers were self-sustaining and mostly working at the same jobs they had held with the exception that instead of crossing the border in the evening to go home, they stayed and melded in with the US citizens, with nobody noticing
Crime in these communities was practically none-0existing at that time. That changed when citizens from many other South and Central American countries started coming in , forming gangs and dealing/ drugs