President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday aimed at cracking down on sanctuary cities, directing the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to compile a list of jurisdictions that are not complying with federal immigration laws.
“It’s quite simple: obey the law, respect the law, and don’t obstruct federal immigration officials and law enforcement officials when they are simply trying to remove public safety threats from our nation’s communities,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “The American public don’t [sic] want illegal alien criminals in their communities. They made that quite clear on November 5, and this administration is determined to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”
The executive order gives sanctuary cities the opportunity to comply with federal immigration enforcement or risk losing federal funding. It also instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to “pursue all legal remedies” to pressure noncompliant jurisdictions into complying with federal law.
“President Trump believes it is imperative that the federal government restore the enforcement of United States immigration law to protect national sovereignty and security,” the White House stated in a fact sheet accompanying the order. “Millions of illegal aliens entered the United States under President Biden’s watch, including human smugglers, gang members, criminals, and terrorists. Some state and local officials are choosing to violate, obstruct, and defy the enforcement of Federal immigration laws, a lawless insurrection against the Federal Government’s constitutional authority to protect the territorial sovereignty of the United States and conduct a unified national policy on immigration.”
The order is part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to expedite the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants. However, it follows a legal setback after a federal judge last week blocked the administration’s attempt to restrict funding from 16 jurisdictions, including San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle.
“Here we are again,” wrote US District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco, who granted a preliminary injunction after ruling the administration’s actions unconstitutional. “The threat to withhold funding causes them irreparable injury in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between the Cities and Counties and the communities they serve.”
