The White House tried to push immigration authorities to release detained immigrants onto the streets of “sanctuary cities” to retaliate against President Trump’s political adversaries, according to reports.
The sources familiar with the idea told the Associated Press that the president mulled the proposal amid his ongoing battle with Democrats over border wall funding.
So-called sanctuary cities are places where local authorities do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to help round up people living in the country illegally.
Some places like New York City and California have laws preventing such cooperation.
Citing homeland security officials and leaked emails, the Washington Post reported that White House officials proposed transporting immigrants to sanctuary cities at least twice in the past six months — once in November, as a caravan approached the southern border, and in February, amid a standoff with Democrats over wall funding.
In a Nov. 16, email, White House officials asked various agencies whether the detainees could be arrested and bused “to small- and mid-sized sanctuary cities.”
The White House told ICE that the plan was meant to alleviate a shortage of detention space but also served to send a message to Democrats, according to the Washington Post.
The attempt at political retaliation raised alarm at ICE, with a top official saying it created major budgetary and liability concerns, noting also that “there are PR risks as well.”
After the White House pushed again in February, ICE’s legal department nixed the idea as inappropriate and rejected the administration.
On Thursday, a White House official and a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told the newspaper that the proposal was no longer under consideration.
“This was just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion,” the White House statement said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco was among those the White House wanted to target, according to homeland security officials.
Pelosi’s office slammed the plan.
“The extent of this administration’s cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated,” Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne told the Washington Post.
“Using human beings — including little children — as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable,” Etienne added.
The president has expressed increasing frustration at the influx of migrants from Central America, whom he often casts as criminals who threaten US security.
The number of detainees in ICE custody has approached 50,000 in recent months, according to the Washington Post, an all-time high that has strained the agency’s budget.
Trump and his aides discussed reinstating family separations, too, but the president later said it wasn’t happening.
Source: Read Full Article