‘Not making any payments’: Trump declares he’s cutting off funds to sanctuary cities

President Donald Trump declared that he will be cutting off federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions across the country beginning in February.

The White House will cease all federal payments to city and state governments that restrict cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, Trump said Tuesday while addressing the Detroit Economic Club. The declaration follows intense national focus on immigration policy, with multiple lawsuits against enforcement surges racking up, and Democrats demanding that the Department of Homeland Security scale back its activities.

“Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens,” Trump said.

“It brings fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come,” the president continued. “So we’re not making any payment to anybody that supports [sanctuary policies].”

The White House declined to offer additional details on the president’s announcement, referring a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation back to Trump’s Tuesday speech.

While there is no official definition for a “sanctuary” jurisdiction, the label generally describes any locality that restricts officials from cooperating or communicating with federal immigration agents. Common sanctuary policies forbid local law enforcement from honoring immigration detainers, sharing information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or notifying the agency of an impending release of a wanted illegal migrant.

There are 12 states, three counties, and 18 major cities that the Trump administration deems to be sanctuary havens for criminal illegal migrants, according to a list published by the Department of Justice.

The president has dramatically cracked down on sanctuary localities since returning to office, with his administration taking Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and a slate of New Jersey cities to court for practicing so-called sanctuary policies. The second Trump administration has already attempted to block federal funding from sanctuary jurisdictions in the past months, but those efforts have largely been blocked by the courts.

Minnesota, which is already reeling from Department of Agriculture funding cuts due to rampant Somali-related fraud allegations, is currently experiencing a surge of DHS agents. The president on Tuesday took a swipe at outgoing Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

“We have also suspended payments tied to suspected scammers in Minnesota, of which there are many,” Trump stated. “It’s a great state. It was a great state. Now it’s getting destroyed by that stupid governor.”

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