The Trump administration has signaled that proposals to arrest top lawmakers in sanctuary jurisdictions may now be on the back burner, seemingly walking back more aggressive prior statements on the issue.
The apparent walk back came during a White House briefing last week, when I specifically queried Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about sanctuary-jurisdiction officials, including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, a Democrat, who was reportedly seen participating in a violent anti-ICE protest in the sanctuary state of Illinois.
When I mentioned Biss and asked Leavitt if the administration has “plans to start arresting sanctuary mayors or governors going forwards,” she responded: “Unless they commit a crime, I don’t see them being arrested, but if they are violating federal law, if they are violating state law, then, of course, they should be arrested by state and local law enforcement.”
Biss had reportedly joined a large group of agitators who laid siege to the ICE Broadview processing facility in the Chicago suburbs on Sept. 19. (Biss took issue with being named in the question, offering the following response on social media: “Unidentified ICE agents are snatching neighbors off the street and intimidating peaceful protesters while right-wing media spreads false narratives and even suggests my arrest. Nonviolent protest is core to our democracy and I won’t be silenced.”)
The exchange highlights the important issue of how the Trump administration will deal with public officials who implement sanctuary city policies that hinder and threaten to hamstring the administration’s efforts to enforce federal immigration law. To its credit, Trump in his second term has aggressively tackled the border crisis that the Biden administration fomented. He has sent federal agents and troops to Democrat strongholds across the U.S. this year in an attempt to curb violence and rampant illegal alien activity.
He ordered a significant federal intervention in Washington, D.C., which netted thousands of arrests, including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua terrorists, since mid-August. In September, the administration launched two additional campaigns — ICE-led Operation Midway Blitz and Border Patrol-led Operation At Large — aimed at arresting thousands more illegal aliens in Chicago and across Illinois.
ICE has apprehended more than 210,000 illegals since Jan. 20, with the vast majority being criminal illegal aliens. The administration will reportedly increase federal activity in other cities as well.
But these crackdowns in sanctuary jurisdictions have sparked significant protesting and rioting, as was seen in Los Angeles this summer. “You will not stop us or slow us down.” ICE “will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated in June.
The administration has taken a hardline response to protests in sanctuary jurisdictions and has spoken openly about taking legal action against lawmakers who resist, obstruct, or interfere in federal immigration enforcement.
But during the first days of the Trump presidency, the administration indicated that sanctuary city officials were engaging in illegal activity simply by virtue of enforcing sanctuary city policies. When Leavitt was asked if these officials were violating the law on Jan. 31, she replied: “If they are not enforcing our nation’s immigration law, sounds like they are breaking the law.”
Also in January, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller indicated sanctuary authorities could be arrested if they flouted federal immigration laws. “The law is clear that harboring an illegal alien, smuggling an illegal alien, obstructing law enforcement, obstructing an official proceeding and a conspiracy to violate the rights of Americans, all of these and many more are criminal statutes,” Miller told Fox News. “So if there [are] incidences that occur where a public official or an elected individual engages in violations of those criminal statutes, then I fully expect the Department of Justice will follow the letter of the law.”
In April, President Trump signed an executive order threatening to defund sanctuary jurisdictions.
“Why not just arrest the leaders who are harboring and shielding illegal aliens — actually, terrorists — from deportation?” Border czar Tom Homan was asked after the order was issued. A smiling Homan replied, “Wait until you see what’s coming.”
In July, President Trump said he would arrest Zohran Mamdani if the prospective New York City mayor didn’t allow federal officials to arrest illegal aliens in the city.
In August, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to dozens of leaders of sanctuary cities, counties, and states across the country, warning that their leaders could be prosecuted and federal funds stripped if they refused to cooperate with President Trump’s plans. “You better be abiding by our federal policies and with our federal law enforcement, because if you aren’t, we’re going to come after you,” Bondi told Fox News after the letters were issued.
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on whether the Trump administration will seek to prosecute public officials for enforcing sanctuary city policies.
As federal operations continue across the country, enforcement is ramped up, and more ICE, Border Patrol, and Homeland Security Investigations agents are trained and sent into the field, the number of apprehensions and deportations will rise even higher. But without the threat of being arrested and prosecuted by federal authorities, sanctuary lawmakers may be increasingly emboldened in their quest to continue sanctuary policies to thwart deportation efforts.
The administration has a difficult but clear task ahead if it truly wants to quash these strongholds.
Portions of this article are taken from an article the author published on his website.