President Trump is taking over defiant cities of refuge as he seeks to fulfill a key campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants en masse, while leaders in blue cities dig in, resisting any form of federal aid that could lead to migrant removal.
Tom Homan, Trump’s appointed border czar, promised to unveil a series of “game-changing” executive orders that encouraged sanctuary cities to solidify their status as safe havens for migrants.
Cities from Chicago to San Diego doubled down on reaffirming local ordinances barring local police from assisting federal authorities in immigration removal operations.
President Trump put illegal immigration front and center in his inaugural address on Monday, promising, “All illegal entry will be stopped immediately, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places they came from.”
TRUMP TO SEND TROOPS TO BORDER, END BIDEN’S PAROLE POLICY IN RUSH OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON DAY ONE
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
San Diego and Los Angeles, California
In November, following Trump’s election victory, Los Angeles formalized a policy barring the use of city resources to support federal deportation efforts, further cementing its status as a sanctuary city.
The San Diego Board of Supervisors adopted a similar policy that prohibits county agencies from working with federal immigration authorities. California’s history as a haven for migrants was cemented in 2017 after former governor Jerry Brown signed legislation making California a sanctuary state.
During Trump’s first term, he cut hundreds of millions of dollars in law enforcement grants to sanctuary cities. The Biden administration restored the grants in 2021. Reuters reported.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a vocal critic of the state’s immigration policies, told Fox News Digital that he hopes to see “America return to the rule of law.”
“I will fight to secure our border and oppose any handouts or incentives that encourage illegal immigration,” he said. “We must put Americans first and uphold the integrity of our nation.”
BLUE STATE COUNTY IGNORES ICE DETENTIONS AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ACCUSED OF RAPE
Mayor Mike Johnston recently announced major budget cuts to Denver city government to better deal with the migrant crisis. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Denver, Colorado
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston made headlines after saying he would go to jail over his opposition to Trump’s mass deportation plan, saying he foresaw a “Tiananmen Square moment” if federal immigration officials tried to do their job.
“More than we have DPD stationed at the county line to keep them out, you’d have 50,000 Denverites out there,” Johnston said in an interview. with Denverite. “It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, isn’t it? You’d have every one of those Highland mothers coming out for the migrants.”
But in a subsequent interview with 9Newshe returned those comments.
“Would I take it back if I could? Yeah, I probably wouldn’t use that picture,” Johnston said. “That’s an image that I hope we can avoid. What I was trying to say is that this is an outcome that I hope we can avoid in this country. I don’t think any of us want that.”
But he said he was willing to protest anything he saw as “illegal, immoral or un-American” in the city — including the use of military force — and was then asked if he was willing to go to jail for standing in the way of the administration’s policies.
“Yeah, I’m not afraid of it, and I’m not looking for it either,” Johnston said. “I think the goal is to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve difficult problems.”
Denver experienced an unprecedented influx of migrants who arrived in the city under former leadership President Biden’s administrationand Johnston cut city services to house and feed migrants.
TRUMP DHS PICKS NOEMA PROMISES TO KILL CONTROVERSIAL APP USED BY ‘DAY ONE’ MIGRANTS
Foreign nationals were arrested this week during a targeted enforcement operation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting immigration fugitives, returnees and criminal aliens at large on February 9, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Bryan Cox/US Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Getty Images)
Chicago, Illinois
On Sunday, Opposition from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson it rang loud and clear when he promised to oppose Trump’s plans.
“Chicago stands firm: no matter the circumstances, our commitment to protect and support this city remains unwavering,” Johnson wrote in a social media post Sunday. “We will continue to fight for justice and the safety of all who call this place home.”
Johnson’s statement came after he assured the city that the city would continue to comply with the Illinois Foundation Act of 2017, which prohibits local police from participating in federal immigration enforcement.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLANNING TO ARREST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ACROSS THE US ON ‘DAY ONE’
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu she reiterated Boston’s status as a sanctuary city after Trump’s election, saying she didn’t want migrants to “retreat into the shadows.”
“The last thing we want is for people who are part of our economy, part of our school system, part of our community and the fabric of our city, to suddenly feel like they have to retreat into the shadows,” Wu said during an interview with WCVB’s For the record.
Like many sanctuary cities, Boston has passed a law that prohibits local police from asking people about their immigration status or sharing information with ICE. Boston’s foundation law was signed into law in 2014 under Mayor Marty Walsh, and changes were made in 2019.
“Boston’s foundation law places strict prohibitions on local police being drawn into becoming the enforcement arm for whims regardless of what kind of approach federal immigration law takes,” Wu said during an interview with WGBH.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey echoed the Boston mayor’s sentiment, saying the Massachusetts State Police will “absolutely not” help with immigration enforcement.
WATCH TRUMP’S BORDER EMPEROR ON DEPORTATION PLANS:
The Wall Street Journal reported On Friday night, Trump’s team was planning an immigration raid in Chicago that would begin Tuesday morning, citing four sources familiar with the plan. Between 100 and 200 police officers will be there to carry out the week-long operation, the Journal reported.
We will take the handcuffs off ICE…
Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan has promised large-scale raids as part of Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
“We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them arrest criminal aliens, that’s what’s going to happen,” Homan said Friday on Fox News’ “Jesse Waters Primetime.” “What we’re saying to ICE: You’re going to enforce immigration law unapologetically. You’re going to focus on the worst first, the threats to public safety first, but no one is leaving the table. If they’re in the country illegally, they have a problem.”
“There will be major raids across the country,” Homan continued. “Chicago is just one of many places. If we have 24 field offices around the country on Tuesday, you can expect ICE.”
WATCH:
While there are key sanctuary cities intent on thwarting Trump’s political agenda, there are swathes of cities and states intent on helping Trump.
In Colorado, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution supporting Trump’s mass deportation plan. The unanimous vote certified the district, which adjoins the sanctuary city of Denver, as a “non-sanctuary district.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE REPORTS ON THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
“We will follow and abide by federal immigration law,” Douglas County President Abe Laydon told Fox News Digital. “We will continue to uphold the US Constitution and follow federal immigration law.”
“We want to empower our local police, our sheriff’s office and communicate with federal immigration officials to get information and protect people in our community,” he said. “The three of us, as a board of county commissioners, will hold the line in Douglas County and make sure our community stays safe.”
Migrants, many from Haiti, were seen camping along the Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
In the border state of Texas, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham offered the administration more than 1,400 acres to set up her mass deportation operation.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Her letter to Trump, obtained by Fox News Digital, said her office “is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow for the construction of a processing, detention and coordinating the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the mayors’ offices in Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago and Denver.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
