President Donald Trump wants democratic states to give him sanctuary cities adjustments in exchange for them to receive Coronavirus economic relief, in what twitter users described as quid-pro-quo.
The president stated this at two separate events Tuesday. One at a White House event with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the other while taking questions from reporters at an East Room event to promote the success of the Payroll Protection Program.
Trump told reporters he would consider economic relief to states if they adjust their sanctuary city policies to align with his administration’s immigration policy goals.
“If it’s Covid-related, I guess we can talk about [aid], but we’d want certain things also, including sanctuary city adjustments,” he said.
“We’d have to talk about things like sanctuary cities, as an example. I think sanctuary cities are something that has to be brought up where people who are criminals are protected, they are protected from prosecution,”
TRUMP TO REPORTERS.
“I think that has to be done. I think it’s one of the problems that the states have. I don’t even think they know they have a problem, but they have a big problem with the sanctuary situation,” he said.
Trump says he wants blue states to give him “sanctuary-city adjustments” in exchange for federal financial relief
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had suggested that states with massive Covid-19 related budget shortfalls should just declare bankruptcy.
Immigration to US suspended, but not for farmers
The Trump administration announced on April 23 that it would suspend immigration to the US. But it exempted many farmworkers from the rule.
The Department of Homeland Security announced a temporary final rule to change certain H-2A requirements to allow U.S. agricultural employers avoid disruptions in employment. This measure is to protect the nation’s food supply chain amid COVID-19 related border restrictions.
The ACLU criticized Trump’s comments on Twitter Tuesday, saying, “We cannot allow the Trump administration to exploit a public health crisis to further their anti-immigrant agenda.”
Why Trump battles sanctuary cities?
Trump has not for once hidden his dislike of sanctuary cities. His administration claims sanctuary cities protects undocumented immigrants from prosecution by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, ICE and creates more criminal activity.
But a study published in the journal Urban Affairs Review in 2017 compared cities with and without sanctuary cities. It found that cities with similar characteristics but for their sanctuary policies had “no statistically discernible difference” in their rates of violent crime, rape, or property crime.
Why trouble immigrants?