President Trump said late Saturday that the U.S. is already sending immigrants to sanctuary cities and that it was his “sick idea.”
“Last month alone, 100,000 illegal immigrants arrived at our borders, placing a massive strain on communities and schools and hospitals and public resources like nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said during a rally in Green Bay, Wis. “Now we’re sending many of them to sanctuary cities. Thank you very much. They’re not too happy about it. I’m proud to tell you that was actually my sick idea.”
{mosads}”What did they say? ‘We want them,'” Trump continued. “I said we’ll give em to you.”
The comments came just a day after Trump said in a speech to the National Rifle Association that the U.S. was forced to release migrants and that it gave sanctuary cities “as many as they can handle,” according to CNN.
The Washington Post first reported earlier this month that Trump administration officials had floated the idea to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The administration had reportedly unsuccessfully tried to persuade DHS to release thousands of detainees in small and midsize cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The move was reportedly meant to put pressure on Democratic lawmakers.
Trump said in a tweet on April 12 that his administration was actively considering the move.
“The USA has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Cities,” he wrote in a separate tweet on April 13. “We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California, which is well known or its poor management & high taxes!”
DHS has made no formal announcement related to sending migrants to sanctuary cities or Trump’s statement.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.