Sanctuary cities beware: The incoming administration will have no tolerance for those who protect immigrants in this country illegally.
The new year will see a drastic change from the past four under the Biden administration, especially when it comes to illegal migrants. President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans – and border czar Tom Homan’s determination to enforce them – have sent waves of panic through the blue parts of the country. States and cities have been working on ways to thwart the incoming administration’s plans, but can they?
Sanctuary Cities Beware
“Sanctuary jurisdictions aren’t going to stop what we’re going to do,” Homan said during an interview with NewsNation. “If they don’t want to protect their communities, then the Trump administration will.” During an airing of Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures in early December, the incoming border czar was very specific and had a clear warning for people who try to circumvent the proposed immigration policies, especially those who refuse to cooperate with ICE and federal agencies:
“Here’s what’s going to happen – you release that guy in the community, I’m going to send an entire team to go look for the guy in your community. And what’s going to happen? We’ll find that guy. And when we find that guy, there’s probably going to be others that are not a priority. However, if they’re in the country illegally, they’ll be arrested, too, because we’re not going to tell an immigration officer like this [Biden] administration did, that you’re going to turn your back on an illegal immigrant. When you’re an immigration officer, you have an oath to uphold, so you are forcing us into community in large numbers where other non-priority aliens will be arrested.
“That’s the exact result you don’t want, so let us in the jail. It’s safer for everybody.”
One of the most horrendous crime incidents committed by an illegal migrant in 2024 happened in a New York subway in December. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, a Guatemalan national, was previously deported in June 2018. According to a surveillance video, a woman was sitting motionless, perhaps sleeping, aboard an F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station.
“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a press conference. “The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.” Zapeta then reportedly stayed on the scene, sitting on a bench just outside the train car while officers tried to put out the flames. The victim – recently identified as Debrina Kawam, a 57-year-old woman from New Jersey – was pronounced dead at the scene.
Since this took place in New York City, a sanctuary city, authorities have said they will not honor ICE’s request for a detainer. Right now, not much can be done about it, but if the new administration has anything to say, those who refuse to work with federal immigration agents may have to suffer the consequences.
Activists for sanctuary rights suggest migrants are too afraid to go to the police when a crime is committed and that witnesses and victims will suffer more with Trump’s immigration policies. However, as Homan told NewsNation, “The victims and witnesses of crime certainly don’t want the bad guy released back into their neighborhood.”
Penalties and Prison Sentences
Trump has threatened to hit sanctuary cities where it hurts: the pocketbook. For those that refuse to work with immigration agencies, they may see a drastic reduction in their budgets. But that hasn’t stopped some blue territories from trying to go around the incoming policies. Boston’s city council, for example, voted to “double down” on obstructing Trump’s plans for mass deportation, Fox News reported. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has vowed to have citizen volunteers block federal authorities who try to deport illegals. And California Governor Gavin Newsom has had litigation meetings to create a $25-million fund to help fight against any policies that would “harm the state,” as Liberty Nation News reported.
If cutting funding doesn’t encourage officials to respect and obey the law of the land, then maybe serving some time behind bars will. The America First Legal Foundation, an organization led by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, wrote a warning letter to elected leaders of sanctuary cities, saying they could be held “criminally liable” if they try to thwart immigration enforcement.
“Federal law is clear: aliens unlawfully present in the United States are subject to removal from the country, and it is a crime to conceal, harbor, or shield them. It is also a crime to prevent federal officials from enforcing immigration law,” the letter begins.
Without going into all the legal jargon, the letter suggests various prison terms associated with ignoring federal immigration laws. Those involved in “any misleading actions that help an alien to avoid removal proceedings” could face up to 20 years in prison. Furthermore:
“Anyone who ‘conceals, harbors, or shields from detection’ ‘an alien [who] has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law,’ or who attempts to do so, is committing a federal crime if that person knew or acted ‘in reckless disregard of the’ alien’s unlawful presence or entrance in the United States. Similarly, it is a crime if an individual ‘encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.’ It is also a crime to aid and abet the above violations or to engage in conspiracy to commit them. The penalty for any of the above crimes is five years’ imprisonment per alien involved.”
It’s not just ICE that sanctuary cities need to watch out for, though. With the re-election of Trump, sheriffs across the country are coming together to help remove unlawful migrants under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Although it was dismantled by ICE a few years ago, the plan is to start it back up, and a lot of sheriffs are on board, eager to help in any way they can.
So, the message for sanctuary cities in 2025 is simple: Beware.
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