Democrat-led cities and states are rushing to re-declare themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants as they seek to undermine President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of extensive deportations.
New Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell joined the movement Wednesday, saying his officers will refuse to cooperate with federal efforts.
“LAPD will protect our immigrant community,” he said. “LAPD will not take action to determine a person’s immigration status and will not arrest someone for their status. And LAPD will not assist with mass deportations.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson offered similar assurances to migrants in his city, while New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his government would fight some of Mr. Trump’s policies, including his deportation plans, “to the death.”
The tough talk comes as Mr. Trump plots how to carry out his plans to oust a large number of illegal immigrants.
His team has said it wants to focus on those with criminal records, but that largely requires the cooperation of state and local authorities, who end up coming into contact with the migrants through arrests and serving jail sentences.
Sanctuary policies hinder that cooperation. In some cases, they prevent local authorities from holding illegal immigrants for pickup by federal deportation officers. Other sanctuary policies go further by preventing local authorities from even notifying the feds about an upcoming release.
Sanctuaries have existed for decades, but they skyrocketed during Mr. Trump’s first administration as they became a prominent way for Democrats to express resistance to the GOP president.
Most sanctuaries maintained their policies during the Biden administration, even though Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas indicated the policies run contrary to public safety.
The announcements by Democrat-led cities and states cheered immigration activists.
“Trump may be reelected, but he does not have a mandate to come in and rip apart our communities,” Greisa Martinez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream, told reporters this week.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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