The Trump administration escalated its showdown with Democrat-led states and cities over immigration enforcement on Monday, announcing that the president will sign executive orders that will “unleash America’s law enforcement to pursue criminals” and direct federal agencies to publish a list of “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with immigration agents.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the sanctuary city executive order in a morning news briefing as “focused on protecting American communities from criminal aliens.”
The order, she said, will direct the attorney general and secretary of Homeland Security to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that “obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
“It’s quite simple,” Leavitt said in the briefing with border czar Tom Homan. “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.”
Trump is focusing on immigration — a key platform of his 2024 election campaign — as he approaches his 100th day in office. After the two executive orders are signed, Leavitt said, the president will have signed more than 140 executive orders in three months, a number that she described as “rapidly approaching the total number signed by the Biden administration over the course of four years in office.”
But the administration is already running into legal roadblocks as it seeks to penalize sanctuary cities.
Last week, a federal judge in California barred the Trump administration from denying or conditioning the use of federal funds to San Francisco and more than a dozen other municipalities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick said that parts of Trump’s executive orders were unconstitutional, and that the defendants are prohibited “from directly or indirectly taking any action to withhold, freeze, or condition federal funds.”
As a blue state with a massive immigrant population, California is a key player in the nation’s immigration showdown.
After Trump’s November election victory, Gov. Gavin Newsom drafted a conceptual plan to help undocumented immigrants under threat of deportation and called a special legislative session to approve $25 million in additional state funds for possible litigation against the Trump administration.
The Los Angeles City Council also backed a “sanctuary city” law that forbids city employees and resources from being involved in federal immigration enforcement. The law would not prevent federal agents from carrying out mass deportations across Los Angeles, but was intended as a sign that City Hall backs the sprawling region’s immigrants.
On Friday, FBI agents arrested Hannah Dugan, a county judge in Milwaukee, accusing her of obstructing an immigration arrest.
Asked if the Trump administration would lock up a federal judge or a Supreme Court justice, Leavitt said: “Anyone who is breaking the law or obstructing federal law enforcement officials from doing their jobs is putting theirselves at risk of being prosecuted. Absolutely.”
