WASHINGTON, DC- President Trump has spoken repeatedly about eliminating so-called “sanctuary cities” (and states) and that proposal has the support of at least one Republican senator.
On Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appeared on Fox News “Hannity” and told host Sean Hannity that sanctuary cities incentivize “massive fraud” and emphasized that President Trump is working on a plan to end sanctuary city policies, Fox News Digital reports.
Graham told Hannity that he spoke to the president, who told him that he would be “reasonable” with leaders in Minneapolis as the sides work to calm down anti-ICE unrest in the city, however the president was drawing the line when it came to sanctuary city policies.
“What Donald Trump is not going to do is avoid dealing with sanctuary city policy,” Graham said. “President Trump is working with me and others to introduce a bill to go to the floor of the United States Senate to end sanctuary city policy forever, to eliminate it.”
“All the twelve states who are doing this will be punished if they don’t change,” Graham continued. “You can never have law and order with sanctuary city policies.”
Last Sunday, Trump repeated his call to Congress to pass legislation ending sanctuary jurisdiction policies in a Truth Social post.
Sanctuary city policies have led to repeated conflicts between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and far-left agitators, with two pro-illegal alien zealots being shot and killed by ICE agents, one when she struck an ICE agent with her car, and the second last week, when 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a leftist agitator who got into a physical altercation with agents while armed with a handgun. Investigators are currently trying to determine the exact circumstances under which Pretti was killed. Meanwhile, two ICE agents involved in the incident have been placed on routine administrative leave, which is typical during a deadly force incident.
In the aftermath of Pretti’s shooting, the president reassigned Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino to other duties while bringing in his border czar, Tom Homan, to deal with Minneapolis. The president expressed support for Bovino, and the transfer, despite its timing, is not disciplinary in nature. It appears to be something of a “reset” in the administration’s approach to the violence in Minneapolis.
On Monday, the president and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke on the telephone, which both agreed was “productive.” On Tuesday, Homan arrived in Minneapolis and met separately with Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
In the aftermath of Walz and Homan’s meeting, both men "agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue and will continue working [toward] those goals,” Walz’s office said.
The apparent cooperation between the administration and Minnesota Democrats appears to be a shift in tone, however issues remain. President Trump urged local officials to comply with ICE requests to detain illegal aliens, however Frey said his city will not enforce federal immigration laws.
The battle of wits between both sides has led to increasing violence from radical leftists, who appear to be energized by the anti-ICE sentiments of Minnesota politicians, whom conservatives have blamed for the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good, the woman who was shot after striking the ICE agent with her car on Jan. 7.
Graham specifically pointed to sanctuary laws in twelve states, calling them divisive and the “source of the problem.”
“It literally incentivizes more illegal immigration,” Graham told ‘Hannity.’ “It’s a massive invitation to fraud, and it breaks down law and order. And what happened in Minnesota is a result of a state ignoring the law that’s there to help the people.”
President Trump campaigned on a promise to reverse the mass invasion of the U.S. facilitated by the Biden administration and was elected by winning not only the electoral college but also the popular vote.
Comments