Federal judge blocks Trump’s effort to harm Democratic “sanctuary cities”

April 25: On This Day In 2017

One of Trump’s first executive orders was to cut certain funding to “sanctuary cities” -- such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco -- which did not want Homeland Security to enlist them to deport undocumented immigrants. OTDI 2017, a federal judge blocked Trump from cutting those funds. The WH reacted with outrage, calling it “egregious overreach by a single unelected judge.”

"Democrat sanctuary city" under attack

But Trump saw opportunities to hurt those “Democrat” cities time and again. For example, in 2019 he proposed that DHS release all undocumented immigrants under detention into those cities, hoping the flood of people would make life unbearable in those places. Even his own DHS wouldn’t do that.

He threatened again during the pandemic to cut their funds because: “I don’t think you should have sanctuary cities if they get that kind of aid.” This was one of multiple rounds of whack-a-mole that Trump employed to punish Democrats; some managed to remain on the books through the end of Trump’s term before they could be struck down.

Didn't presidents used to stress they were the presidents for "all Americans?"

Once again, Biden returned us to the pre-Trump era. His DOJ announced that recipients in their popular $250 million annual grant program for local law enforcement will no longer be required to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a condition of their funding.

Dive Deeper

• The Guardian reports on a federal judge blocking Trump’s cutoff of sanctuary city funding

• Trump tries to block Covid aid to sanctuary cities, reported by CNN  

• Washington Post reports on Trump's idea to release immigrants into sanctuary cities

• Biden’s DOJ reverses Trump’s actions

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Summary: Trump attacks Democratic sanctuary cities