The Likelihood of Heightened Immigration Tensions beween the State and Local and Federal Governments with the Incoming Trump Administration
Dara Lind on VOX analyzes the coming struggle over immigration between state and local governments in Blue States with the Trump administration. She is not the only one to see the coming battles. Here is how she describes it:
“The first major challenge to the Donald Trump administration will come from cities: the last redoubt of blue America. It could happen in New York, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia — or all of the above and dozens, or hundreds, more.
And it’s going to be over immigration.
Trump and his administration have made it clear that they believe cities are obligated to help the government maximally enforce immigration law. And he’s promised, in his first 100 days, to “cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities” — cities that refuse to provide assistance to federal immigration agents.”
There has long been tension between state and local governments and the federal government when it comes to immigration enforcement. Many cities rebelled when they were informed that the Obama administration’s Secure Communities was a mandatory, not voluntary, program. We can expect increased tensions on this front as the Trump administration is likely to ramp up immigration enforcement — and focusing on criminal removals is an easy way, politically and otherwise, to boost removal numbers. To facilitate those efforts, a Trump administration also might bring back 287g agreements of cooperation between state and local law enforcement and the federal government. In part due to police excesses at the local level, such as the racial profiling run amok of the Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office headed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, These agreements had been phased out under President Obama.
KJ