Democrat-controlled cities and states are gearing up to oppose the mass deportation of illegal immigrants promised by President-elect Donald Trump, putting measures in place to shield migrants and blunt the incoming administration’s efforts, NBC News reported Thursday.
Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia are among the blue cities passing ordinances, taking on sanctuary status and even filing lawsuits against an administration that hasn’t taken office yet, according to the report. The ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit this month against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, currently under the Biden administration, demanding details on the deportation plans.
“People’s fear is incredibly high,” Philadelphia Councilmember Rue Landau told NBC News. “They are bracing for the worst, and it’s up to us as local leaders to show the strength of our cities.”
Democrat mayors and governors across the country have vowed that their law enforcement agencies will not assist the Trump administration in any capacity, from detention of illegal migrants or locating them, efforts that incoming border czar Tom Homan has dismissed.
“Game on,” Homan told Newsmax last Saturday, adding a warning to left-wing leaders, including Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who said he plans to prevent federal officers from entering the city to enforce deportations.
"Don't step over a line because there's a line they can't cross," Homan said. "Don't impede us, actively impede us, because that is a crime. Do not knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from ICE because that's a crime."
In a separate interview, Homan told Newsmax, Democrat leaders “don't have to help us, but they need to get the hell out of the way because we're coming."
A rallying cry against deportations is that it’s inhumane to separate families, ignoring the roughly 300,000 migrant kids separated from their families under Biden administration policies, resulting in children shepherded by the cartels at the border for profit.
“[E]xplain to me how 300,000-plus lost unaccompanied minors by the Biden administration, put into the hands, actually, of cartels by the parents themselves, how is that not family separation?” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Trump deported fewer illegals than Biden and former President Barack Obama in his first administration, in part because of sanctuary policies adopted by blue cities, states and advocacy groups. They are looking to repeat it.
"We can slow them down, prevent them from acting at the scale they want to act at. We can sap their morale and stymie their momentum,” Naureen Shah, deputy director of Government Affairs, Equality Division with the ACLU, told NBC News.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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