Trump Makes Progress in Several Blue Cities for Immigration

Sanctuary cities are a bit of an enigma when it comes to federal, state, and local laws.

Trump, however, has cracked two of them, with hopefully more to follow.

Are Sanctuary Cities Legal

This is an age-old question, as the Supreme Court has made it quite clear that immigration laws fall under federal purview, but there is a caveat to this.

Donald Trump tried to challenge sanctuary city laws when he was in office for the first time, but the Supreme Court declined to take the case.

Trump challenged the California Values Act, which prevented local and state law enforcement from sharing its data with immigration authorities.

If I were Trump, I would have a case set up immediately to challenge the constitutionality of sanctuary cities, but it will have to be framed in such a way that the Court will have no choice but to accept the case and settle the issue once and for all.

California City Caves

California is loaded with sanctuary cities, but Huntington Beach is no longer one of them. The city council voted earlier this week with a vote of 7-0 to declare itself NOT a sanctuary city.

Mayor Pat Burns stated, "This is in the best interest of our community, Huntington Beach, to make sure that we utilize every facet of law enforcement we can to make it the best place to live.”

Huntington Beach will now cooperate with federal law enforcement to notify immigration officials whenever an illegal immigrant has been taken into custody and is about to be released.

Councilman Chad Williams added, "If we want to voluntarily cooperate with federal authorities to protect our community, that is absolutely our prerogative. It's just basic common sense. Why wouldn't you want to use every tool available to keep your community safe?"

New York City Coming Around

New York City Mayor Adams has privately met with Trump, but just a few days ago, he stated that his city would not be able to help on the immigration front because of current sanctuary city laws.

This week, Adams flipped that narrative a bit, stating that his city would “coordinate” its efforts with ICE on deporting migrant criminals. However, Trump's order allows for arrests in protected areas, such as schools, churches, and hospitals, which Adams said he is still analyzing.

Adams stated, “We didn’t go into the details and the crevices of every policy that he’s going to put in place. We have been in constant communication with ICE. We met with them a little over a week ago, probably last week, to be exact, to hear what their policies may be.”

My thinking is that Adams will do whatever Trump wants him to do if Trump guarantees him a pardon. Adams is facing an indictment for, among other charges, bribery, and Trump has already said he would look at the case and possibly pardon Adams if convicted because he feels Adams was treated badly after speaking out against Biden’s immigration policies. Trust me… this is self-preservation mode for Adams, so expect him to fall completely in line soon enough.