Photo: AFP
As expected, multiple blue cities have begun declaring themselves "sanctuary cities" in order to make it harder for Trump to remove undocumented immigrants. The good news is, this doesn't actually stop federal officials from doing their jobs.
Los Angeles became the most recent city to do this, with a 13-0 vote. The entire state of California has been a "sanctuary state" since the passage of SB54 back in 2017.
The good news is, this won't actually stop federal law enforcement from being able to do their jobs. Former acting ICE director Ron Vitiello told KTRH, "Federal authorities do have the ability, both operationally and legally, to arrest people who break federal laws, in the case of immigration."
All this means is that ICE and other DHS personnel will have to enforce immigration laws without the help of California or Los Angeles law enforcement officials. That's an obstacle that the Trump Administration is prepared to deal with.
Vitiello says Trump likely already has plans like, "Using other resources that allow for being able to find, detain, and put those people on a removal path either through an immigration court, or directly."
On top of these sanctuary city policies not really accomplishing very much, Vitiello says these cities and elected officials who implement sanctuary policies are choosing criminal undocumented immigrants over their own citizens. He also pointed to the murders of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray as examples of how dangerous that is.