Trump’s Insane Proposal To Release Detained Migrants In Democratic Districts
President Trump and Senior White House Adviser Stephen Miller (AP)
Today, The Washington Post published an article that you’ll have to read to believe. It is one of the most extreme moves the Trump administration has considered to take since child separation:
White House officials have tried to pressure U.S. immigration authorities to release detainees onto the streets of “sanctuary cities” to retaliate against President Trump’s political adversaries, according to Department of Homeland Security officials and email messages reviewed by The Washington Post.
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There were reportedly at least two versions of the plan. One included targeting the districts of Democratic opponents like Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) in San Francisco and the other included large cities like New York and Chicago. CNN reported that President Trump personally pushed then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to implement the proposal.
The proposal, broached in an email with the subject line “Sanctuary City Proposal”, was reportedly proposed to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in November 2018 when the migrant caravan was approaching the border and recirculated again in February amid the budget standoff. Behind the plan was Senior White House Adviser Stephen Miller, who met with ICE on both occasions to discuss the proposal. ICE rejected the plan. Miller’s involvement is not surprising and should be taken as a sign of how extreme this administration will get on immigration with him at the helm of their policy.
The Washington Post article goes on to quote a DHS official who further expanded on the rationale behind the proposal:
“It was retaliation, to show them, ‘Your lack of cooperation has impacts,’ ” said one of the DHS officials, summarizing the rationale. “I think they thought it would put pressure on those communities to understand, I guess, a different perspective on why you need more immigration money for detention beds.”
During the February budget standoff, a whistleblower reportedly came to Congress revealing the plan and subsequently a second official came forward as well. The plan is reportedly no longer in consideration but shows how far the Trump administration is willing to go to punish who they identify as “enemies”, even if it means using human beings as pawns.
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