On Thursday, President Donald Trump revealed that he is considering removing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from the state of California, noting that the most populous state in the country would become a ‘crime nest’ without them. The President said that California, which is heavily biased to the Democratic Party, is doing a terrible job of management, singling out the state’s protection of criminals due to their ‘sanctuary city’ policies.
The President’s comments are the Trump administration’s latest attempt to pressure sanctuary cities to begin cooperating with federal immigration authorities. The Justice Department has threatened to withhold millions of dollars’ worth of federal grants from communities refusing to share immigration information with federal law enforcement.
The comments were made during a meeting with local and state officials on gun violence and school safety, telling the likes of Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, that his administration had received no assistance from California in its efforts to crack down on criminal immigrants. Trump said that if Immigration and Customs Enforcement was removed from California, it would result in an unprecedented crime wave and the state would soon be begging for their return, an option he is considering
Several cities have openly defied the increasing pressure on the issue from the White House, with lawsuits currently pending in California, Chicago, and Philadelphia on the issue of whether the administration trying to withhold grant money is overstepping their authority.