House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) excoriated President Trump over his proposal to send detained immigrants to “sanctuary cities” as a way to retaliate against Democrats, saying the move was immoral and likely illegal.
Though reports surfaced Thursday evening of White House officials dismissing the proposal, Trump confirmed Friday that the plan was indeed being considered.
The move comes as the president signals he is doubling down on his hard-line tendencies on immigration, most recently overseeing changes at the Department of Homeland Security that forced the departure of many of the agency’s upper echelon, including Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
Top Democratic lawmakers have torched Trump over the “sanctuary city” proposal. Such cities are those that do not cooperate with federal immigration authors through information-sharing or detaining immigrants.
{mosads}“I don’t know anything about it, but again, it’s just another notion that is unworthy of the presidency of the United States and disrespectful of the challenges that we face as a county, as a people, to address who we are: a nation of immigrants,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday.
“If it’s true, it is very unfortunate and to be condemned,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) echoed. “That you could use ICE — or any other federal agency — to penalize or to visit retribution for political reasons, that’s not the act of a democratic government.”
The Washington Post reported this week that acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Matthew Albence, then the acting deputy director of the agency, rejected a similar proposal in November. Department of Homeland Security officials also reportedly shut down the idea again in February.