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The Washington Post

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his administration is giving “strong considerations” to a plan to release immigrant detainees into “sanctuary cities”, blaming Democrats for what he characterised as an unwillingness to change immigration laws.
His comments on Twitter followed a Washington Post report that the administration had been eyeing districts of political adversaries, including that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to release detainees.

Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019

“The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!” Trump wrote.
His tweets suggested that the plan, which immigration officials had rejected in November and February, was again viable.
Trump denies there’s any plan to restart family separations
A White House official and a spokesman for Department of Homeland Security sent nearly identical statements to The Washington Post on Thursday, indicating that the proposal was no longer under consideration.
“This was just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion,” the White House statement said.
Just before Trump tweeted, Pelosi told reporters at a House Democratic retreat that the idea was “just another notion” showing Trump is “unworthy of the presidency of the United States and disrespectful of the challenges we face”.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the proposal is “very unfortunate and to be condemned – that you would use [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to penalise or to [enact] retribution for political reasons”.
“That’s not an act of democratic government,” he said.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that White House officials have twice tried to pressure US immigration authorities to release undocumented migrants into “sanctuary cities” to retaliate against Trump’s political foes, including Pelosi.
The White House raised the idea in November just after the midterm elections as a migrant caravan was approaching the southern border, then again in February when Democrats were demanding a reduction in detention beds in a budget stand-off over the government shutdown.
Pelosi’s San Francisco district was among the cities mentioned as a possible target, according to multiple Department of Homeland Security officials. Two took their case to Congress to blow the whistle on the proposal.
The White House hardliner driving Trump’s aggressive border shake-up
The idea never came to fruition and in fact alarmed ICE officials asked to carry it out. ICE leadership protested that busing migrants from the border to different cities in the US would create an undue time and financial burden on an agency already struggling with challenges amid a border crisis, according to emails reviewed by The Washington Post.
Lawyers at ICE rejected the idea for legal reasons as well; others noted it would cause “PR risks” to target Trump’s adversaries.
But the White House believed it could punish Democrats – including Pelosi – by releasing ICE detainees into their districts to try to create an unstable environment and chaos, according to two DHS whistle-blowers who independently reported the busing plan to Congress.

The White House focus on San Francisco is noteworthy given Trump’s and Republican lawmakers’ repeated references to the murder of a young woman there at the hands of an undocumented immigrant.
In 2015, 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant, a tragedy Republicans frequently discuss when calling for stricter immigration laws.
Pelosi said her members would look into the news reports of the busing plan.
Trump signals tougher immigration stance as Homeland Security chief resigns
In a Friday morning statement, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said the fact that the idea was considered twice “serves as a reminder that the Trump administration’s reckless immigration agenda is not about keeping the country safe, but about partisan politics and wantonly inflicting cruelty”.
“If the administration wants to send a message to Democrats, let us send this message to the president: if your immigration policies are not fixing the problem but only cause chaos and focus on keeping people out, they will always fail,” Thompson said.
“Playing politics with the country’s homeland security has been a mainstay of the Trump administration since day one. The American people want it to end.”


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Donald Trump

Donald Trump says he may send immigrant detainees to ‘sanctuary cities’ to punish political foes

US President Donald Trump at a round table on immigration and border security on April 5. Photo: AP

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in her office at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 25, 2017 Maya Casillas,7 (R), joins migrant rights groups during a vigil to protest against US President Donald Trump's new crackdown on "sanctuary cities", outside the City Hall in Los Angeles. - The White House pushed immigration authorities to release illegal migrants onto the streets of so-called "sanctuary cities" to retaliate against US President Donald Trump's political enemies, the Washington Post reported on April 11, 2019. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)

Why Donald Trump decided against nominating daughter Ivanka as head of World Bank

US President Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka. Photo: AFP

(190412) -- WASHINGTON, April 12, 2019 (Xinhua) -- David Malpass, president of the World Bank, speaks during a press conference of the Spring Meetings 2019 in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 11, 2019. David Malpass, who was elected president of the World Bank last week, said Thursday that he looks forward to a constructive relationship between the international lender and China. Malpass made the remarks at the opening press conference of the Spring Meetings 2019, which the World Bank hosts together with the International Monetary Fund. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Ivanka Trump waves during the 2019 Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act Celebration at the White House on April 1, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)

Donald Trump’s transgender troop ban takes effect

Captain Jennifer Peace, one of thousands of transgender soldiers in the US military. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO: Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he presides over a military parade during Trump's swearing ceremony in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 25, 2017 shows transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker as she speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment center as people show their anger at President Donald Trump's decision to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military in New York City. Five transgender women in the US military are suing President Donald Trump and the Pentagon over Trump's recent announcement he would reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in uniform. In a lawsuit filed in federal court on August 9, 2017, the five plaintiffs from the Air Force, Coast Guard and the Army said they faced uncertainty about their futures, including whether they would be fired or lose post-military and retirement benefits. In a series of three tweets last month, Trump upended an Obama-era policy of more than a year that allowed transgender troops to serve openly. / AFP PHOTO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / SPENCER PLATT

Protesters outside the White House in Washington in July 2017. Photo: AFP

News

World

United States & Canada

US president appears to be trying to revive plan already rejected by immigration officials in November and February
Move targets Democrats for what Trump characterised as an unwillingness to change immigration laws


Move targets Trump opponents whom the US president characterised as being unwilling to change immigration laws.


US immigration

US Politics

United States