Thread: Trump Wants to Bus Migrants to Sanctuary Cities. The Mayors There Are Fine With It

Trump Wants to Bus Migrants to Sanctuary Cities. The Mayors There Are Fine With It.

An elaborate attempt to troll liberal politicians seems to have hit a snag.

Scott Bixby, Sam Brodey
04.12.19 4:46 PM ET


JIM WATSON


President Donald Trump may have assumed that his proposal to release undocumented immigrants into so-called “sanctuary cities” would back Democrats into a corner on the issue of immigration. But the local officials in those cities he’s targeting don’t seem to actually find the prospect all that foreboding.

Instead, when asked about the plan—which would entail busing migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border to be released in cities that do not cooperate with federal law enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants—mayors of major cities, regional capitals and medium-sized towns told The Daily Beast said that they would welcome those currently being detained.

“The city would be prepared to welcome these immigrants just as we have embraced our immigrant communities for decades,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney told The Daily Beast in a statement.

“This White House plan demonstrates the utter contempt that the Trump administration has for basic human dignity and the core values on which this nation was founded.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

“As a welcoming city, we would welcome these migrants with open arms, just as we welcomed Syrian refugees, just as we welcomed Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria and just as we welcome Rohingya refugees fleeing genocide in Myanmar,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

“I am proud that Cambridge is a sanctuary city,” Mayor Marc McGovern of Cambridge, Massachusetts, told The Daily Beast. “Trump is a schoolyard bully who tries to intimidate and threaten people. I’m not intimidated and if asylum seekers find their way to Cambridge, we’ll welcome them.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

The response to Trump’s proposal is almost certainly not what the president expected and reflects the vast gulf that is growing between the two parties on immigration policy. The president’s idea was presented as a threat meant to scare Democrats into admitting that they wouldn’t be as accommodating of immigrant communities as they have pledged to be.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

“We’ll give ’em to the sanctuary cities, maybe, to take care of, if that’s the way they want it,” Trump said during an event originally intended to pitch U.S. companies on the deployment of 5G technology. “We are looking at the possibility, strongly looking at it, to be honest with you.”[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

“We’ll give them more people,” Trump continued. “We can give them an unlimited supply—let’s see if they have open arms.”[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

How serious the administration is about pushing the idea remains unclear. The White House originally denied that they were seriously considering busing undocumented immigrants and migrants detained at the border to sanctuary cities, saying it was “just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion.” But the president has since leaned into it, even tweeting that he was giving it “strong consideration.”[/COLOR]

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump


Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only....

104K
9:38 AM - Apr 12, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy

59.1K people are talking about this

[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]
That gambit, experts say, is both logistically and legally dubious. And multiple mayors told The Daily Beast that it only makes the Trump administration’s immigration policy look incoherent.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

“Like so many issues we are forced to talk about during this presidency, this isn’t a real idea or a real proposal, it’s just another scare tactic,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. The city, home to the congressional district currently held by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is specifically mentioned as a potential target of Trump’s policy. “Every time we talk about the president’s latest tweet… we aren’t talking about a path to citizenship for the over 10 million undocumented immigrants in our country.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]

Some pointed out that the proposal would only exacerbate what the president has characterized as an immigration crisis.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-...e-fine-with-it