White House chief of staff Reince Priebus late Wednesday criticized the concept of “sanctuary cities,” questioning why jurisdictions that don’t enforce immigration laws should receive federal money.
“Should places in this country that ignore the laws of this country when it comes to immigration receive federal money into their communities?” Priebus asked Fox News’s Sean Hannity.
“And the answer to me is ‘no.’ “
Trump signed an executive orders on Wednesday that would strip federal grants from sanctuary cities and states that do not enforce federal immigration laws.
{mosads}Priebus said that stripping funds from sanctuary cities has “been in the Republican Party platform now for over eight years.”
“This is not some sort of crazy thinking,” he said.
“The point is, if you defy the laws of this country, you shouldn’t receive federal tax payer dollars from the people of this country … in some cases, you have folks that have committed crimes … and in every other jurisdiction, they say, ‘OK, you’ve committed a crime. You now have to leave the country.’ That’s normal, right? I think that’s normal, but they’re not doing that.”
Priebus added that he expects the president to issue a series of other executive orders later this week to “start tackling issues in regard to foreign policy, issues in regard to ISIS and our positions now through the world.”