Trump’s Unhinged Threat to U.S. Cities Should Terrify You
Donald Trump pledged to unleash federal law enforcement on "failing" U.S. cities, after promising to end all sanctuary cities in a state where there actually are none.
During a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Sunday, Trump promised to invade American cities with federal forces.
"Today I am announcing a new plan to end all sanctuary cities in North Carolina, and all across our country," said Trump. "No more sanctuary cities."
"As soon as I take office, we will immediately surge federal law enforcement to every city that is failing, which is a lot of them," he continued. "To turn over criminal aliens, and we will hunt down, capture every single gang member, drug dealer, rapist, murderer, and migrant criminal that is being illegally harbored.
"I will ask Congress to pass a law outlawing sanctuary cities nationwide, and we demand the full weight of the federal government on any jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]," Trump added.
In sanctuary cities, there are policies in place that limit coordination and information sharing with federal immigration authorities about noncitizens. This allows noncitizens to be able to report crimes, acquire homes and jobs, and participate in society without fear of being deported.
ICE officials are still able to arrest undocumented immigrants in sanctuary cities, and if undocumented immigrants commit crimes, they are processed by local law enforcement similarly to how anyone else would be.
Trump has repeatedly and vastly overstated the threat of sanctuary cities. Case in point: North Carolina doesn't have any sanctuary cities for Trump to get rid of, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative, anti-immigrant think tank. There are a few county-level institutions that have been deemed noncooperative with ICE, but no actual cities.
Trump has previously vowed to militarize U.S. law enforcement to "restore law and order to our cities," which he claimed have become "cesspools of bloodshed and crime" under President Joe Biden. Trump has argued that additional federal funding and forces would help supplement supposedly defunded police departments—but that the extra help would only go to cities that complied with ICE.
Project 2025 would see Trump take over sanctuary cities and rebuild them to his liking by withholding FEMA funding from states and cities that refuse to cooperate with federal law and immigration enforcement.
