The Washington Post was informed by three people with knowledge of the talks that advisors to President-elect Donald Trump are formulating strategies to reduce federal assistance to communities that do not follow the administration’s deportation policies.
The proposal has been openly debated by several of the president-elect’s supporters, with billionaire businessman Vivek Ramaswamy—co-head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency—emerging as a major proponent.
Trump has given him and Elon Musk the responsibility of reducing federal spending in all departments, possibly by preventing the disbursement of federal cash in particular regions.
Government funds should not be used to subsidize this in any way. When Ramaswamy spoke on ABC’s This Week earlier this month, he predicted that millions of people would deport themselves.
Municipalities that do not implement federal deportation measures, such as barring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from entering jails, are known as sanctuary cities.
Sanctuary policy proponents argue that deportations destroy families and erode anti-crime efforts by discouraging people from reporting emergencies out of fear of being deported.
Additionally, they assert that unless a court approves a criminal warrant, local police are not required to carry out ICE commands.
Conversely, self-deportation is the notion that migrants will leave the nation if their living conditions become intolerable.
Trump obviously does not believe that most people will make the proper decision, though. Rather, if elected president, he has pledged to employ the full authority of the federal government to carry out mass deportations.
Democratic mayors and governors from blue states have promised to run against him now that he has won. It is comparable to what transpired during 2016: Trump will probably encounter similar difficulties this time around, just as he did when attempting to stop funding his opponents.
Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told the Post that he would fight any federal attempt to defund the city and that there would be no cooperation on deportations.
Johnson told the audience, “We are not intimidated or even slightly afraid of threats that seek to undermine our values or any attempt to separate working people from one another.” I will not add an unfair element that would undermine the efforts of our local police force.
During his first administration, Trump ordered federal agencies to stop giving money to cities like Chicago, but a judge reversed that decision.
His Justice Department was permitted by a federal appeals court in 2019 to offer community policing grants to cooperative localities with preferential treatment.
According to reports, Trump wants to try a more comprehensive blockade once more. However, if local governments sue the Trump administration over funding or lack thereof, Matthew Lawrence, a former White House lawyer and assistant dean at Emory University law school, told the Post that they could argue that Congress, not the president, should make spending decisions.
The GOP will control both houses of Congress in the next session, and many Republican members have stated support for Trump’s deportation plan in one way or another, despite Democrats’ attempts to erect obstacles. On Monday, House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told Fox Business that Congress ought to think at restricting state and local tax deductions to citizens of states that uphold Trump’s deportation policies.
“While the president-elect would be remorseless in rescinding federal funds, Democratic governors and mayors would be more concerned with other issues,” Steve Bannon, the far-right operative who helped Trump win in 2016, told the Post. According to him, Trump will pursue criminal charges against anyone who disobeys him.
According to Bannon, this sanctuary cities issue will be a clash early in the administration, and he thinks Trump will lose badly.
Because this is so important to the nation, President Trump will not play games and will finish the sanctuary cities movement. You must start early and play hard because you can’t play too aggressively in front of this crowd.
Bannon listed New York City, Chicago, and Denver as possible targets.
According to one of the Post’s sources, Chicago will be used as an example.
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