Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Democratic governors and mayors to work with his administration on immigration enforcement, urging them to partner with federal authorities to speed the removal of criminal illegal immigrants and end sanctuary city policies.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, President Trump said immigration operations in Republican-led states have proceeded “peacefully and smoothly” because local law enforcement agencies are cooperating with federal officers.
“This Deportation effort is underway, and in Republican run Cities and States, these operations are going peacefully and smoothly, because Local Law Enforcement Officers are allowed to work with their Federal counterparts,” President Trump wrote.
The president pointed to Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Louisiana as examples, claiming ICE has arrested more than 150,000 criminal illegal aliens in those states over the past year with “zero protests, riots, or chaos.”
By contrast, Trump accused Democratic-run sanctuary cities and states of refusing to cooperate with ICE and of encouraging activists to obstruct federal operations.
“And they are actually encouraging Leftwing Agitators to unlawfully obstruct their operations to arrest the Worst of the Worst People!” he wrote, adding that such policies have created dangerous conditions and put “illegal alien criminals over taxpaying, law-abiding citizens.”
President Trump specifically named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, calling on them and other Democratic leaders nationwide to formally cooperate with federal authorities rather than “stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence.”
He said state and local officials should turn over every criminal illegal immigrant currently held in state prisons or local jails, as well as those with active warrants or known criminal histories, so they can be immediately deported.
President Trump also said local police departments “must agree to turn over all illegal aliens” arrested by local officers and assist federal agents in apprehending and detaining suspects wanted for crimes.
The president urged Congress to pass legislation banning sanctuary cities, calling them “the root cause of all of these problems.”
“American cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws,” President Trump wrote.
