Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated on Tuesday that the White House is considering legal measures to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and states that do not cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Mullin made these remarks during an appearance on "The Ingraham Angle," highlighting recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in New York that led to over 2,100 arrests. He indicated that ICE would continue deportation efforts despite local policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
"Literally 20 minutes ago, I was sitting in the Oval Office of the president, and we were having this conversation about how do we withhold funding legally from these sanctuary cities," Mullin told host Laura Ingraham. He questioned the rationale of providing federal funding to municipalities that designate themselves as sanctuaries while international flights carrying immigrants arrive in their airports.
"Why are we allowing these sanctuary cities to still get funding from the federal government when it comes to, let's say, their airport, when we're processing immigration through these international airports?" Mullin asked. "Why would we be processing immigration policies and immigrants into our state or into a city that is a sanctuary state or sanctuary city? It doesn't make any sense to me."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has conducted several deportation operations since the start of President Donald Trump's second term. The recent operation in New York, dubbed "Rotten Apple," resulted in the arrests of individuals accused of offenses including murder, rape, child sexual abuse, and drug trafficking.
Mullin confirmed that he and other administration officials are investigating how to legally cut federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration laws. "President Trump is looking for ways, he had other people that were in the Oval Office with me talking about how can we hold federal funding from these sanctuary cities that are refusing to just simply do one thing, uphold the law of the land," he said.
DHS reported that among those arrested in the New York operation was a Ukrainian national with convictions for kidnapping, abduction resulting in death, criminal possession of a weapon, and murder. Another individual from Colombia had prior arrests for offenses related to sexual conduct and endangering children.
Mullin emphasized that his department enforces all laws passed by Congress, contrasting this with what he described as the opposition from politicians in sanctuary cities and states to the work of ICE agents.