The ongoing battle between California and the Trump Administration over sanctuary cities got even more personal this week after the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement suggested politicians who allow such immigration refuges be charged with crimes. Directing his fire on Gov. Jerry Brown, Thomas Homan told Fox News that Sacramento was a marked city.
“California better hold on tight,” said Homan, promising to “significantly increase” his agency’s enforcement presence in the Golden State. “They are about to see a lot more special agents, a lot more deportation officers.”
Homan didn’t hold back, telling Fox that the Department of Justice needs to file charges against municipalities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities and deny them funding.
He also said politicians should be held “personally accountable” for crimes committed by people living in the U.S. illegally.
“We’ve got to start charging some of these politicians with crimes,” said the ICE chief.
The raw nerve here was California’s passage last year of a landmark “sanctuary state” law, an add-on to the sanctuary-city trend that in recent years has had towns from San Francisco to San Diego, along with hundreds across the country, essentially sheltering illegal immigrants from federal authorities by restricting local law enforcement from helping ICE agents.
The new law, which took effect Jan. 1, has triggered a new level of tension between California and the feds and Homan’s tough talk is the latest sign that things are heating up. The law prevents state and local law enforcement agencies from using manpower or funds to hold or question people, or share information about them with federal immigration agents, unless they have been convicted of one or more offenses from a list of 800 crimes.
Homan also took aim on Fox at sanctuary cities, zeroing in on California specifically: “If the politicians in California don’t want to protect their communities then ICE will,” Homan said.
The current spat is unfolding against an already tense backdrop after the city of San Francisco and the state of California sued the Trump administration last summer over its continued pressure on sanctuary cities. The city’s lawsuit challenges conditions the Department of Justice placed on key law enforcement grants to pressure sanctuary cities to work with ICE agents or face a cut-off of funds. The city’s suit alleges that these additional requirements on the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants are unconstitutional.
Then, in the fall, Brown signed a bill into law expanding workplace protections for employees who came to this country illegally, part of the state’s response to the Trump administration’s call for greater immigration enforcement. That same, Homan struck back, saying ICE would continued to aggressively go after what they see as illegal aliens.
“Governor Jerry Brown’s decision to sign SB54 and make California a sanctuary state for illegal aliens – including those who have committed crimes – will undermine public safety and hinder ICE from performing its federally mandated mission,” Homan wrote in a Oct. 6 statement. “The governor is simply wrong when he claims otherwise. SB54 will negatively impact ICE operations in California by nearly eliminating all cooperation and communication with our law enforcement partners in the state, voiding the delegated authority that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has under the 287g program, and prohibiting local law enforcement from contracting with the federal government to house detainees.”
Then Homan added this promise: “ICE will have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community. ICE will also likely have to detain individuals arrested in California in detention facilities outside of the state, far from any family they may have in California.”
Brown’s office did not immediately respond to Homan’s comments on Fox. But people social-media platforms certainly did. Here’s a sampling:
Thomas Homan, acting director of @ICEgov, wants to put state and local elected representatives in jail for not carrying out Trump’s deportation agenda.
This outrageous threat should disqualify Homan from consideration for the permanent ICE director post. https://t.co/In1lfAgALb
— ACLU (@ACLU) January 3, 2018
Welcome to California where pot is legal, illegals are able to kill while serve zero time, laws are created to protect illegals, sanctuary cities defend them, and infrastructure rots to subsidize liberal ideology
No longer the sunshine State but the lunatic state 🙄🙄🙄
— PinkAboutIt 🇺🇸 (@Pink_About_it) January 2, 2018
BUILD THE WALL!
NO AMNESTY!
NO CHAIN MIGRATION!
NO SANCTUARY CITIES!
END DACA!WHEN does it stop if we don’t stop it NOW!
All this time in US, WHY haven’t they become LEGAL citizens? Wasn’t important enough? They can come back through the LEGAL process.https://t.co/bILyQ088kH
— 👑💥 Hanna 💥👑 (@polishprincessh) January 2, 2018
ICE directors that suggest politicians living in Sanctuary cities should be arrested needs to step down to learn the law.
— Annie M (@AnnieMendelsohn) January 3, 2018
And California Gov Brown is insane His #SanctuaryState is an affront to most Americans! SanctuaryCities/ States hurts America’s middle class
— Victorious Annie👅 (@Anncostanza1) January 3, 2018
