Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said Tuesday that leaders from cities and states with sanctuary policies could expect to face prosecution very soon.
A reporter outside of the White House asked Homan whether he believed that the leaders of sanctuary states and cities should be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and possibly go to prison,” alleging that they’d violated law prohibiting U.S. citizens from transporting, smuggling, or harboring undocumented immigrants.
“Absolutely, and hold tight on that one,” Homan replied. “’Cus it’s coming. It’s coming.”
Sanctuary cities and states have policies in place that limit coordination and information sharing with federal immigration authorities about noncitizens. This allows noncitizens to be able to report crimes, acquire homes and jobs, and participate in society without fear of being deported.
ICE officials are still able to arrest undocumented immigrants in places with sanctuary polices, and if undocumented immigrants commit crimes, they are processed by local law enforcement similarly to how anyone else would be.
The Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative, anti-immigrant think tank, has identified 13 so-called sanctuary states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
Trump repeatedly and vastly overstated the supposed dangers of sanctuary cities as part of his presidential campaign. At a rally in September, he announced his plan to eradicate sanctuary cities from the state of North Carolina, where there are none.
Last week, Trump said that he was working on a plan to withhold all federal funding for any city or state with sanctuary policies.
“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims. They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World. Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
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