Sanctuary cities and jurisdictions will have federal funding withdrawn, according to President Trump, who has made these safe havens for illegal immigrants one of the major targets of his new mass-deportation and immigration-reform policies.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, President Trump called sanctuary jurisdictions “death traps.”
“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims,” Trump wrote.
“They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World. Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!”
There are around 220 sanctuary jurisdictions in the US today.
Sanctuary jurisdictions, which refuse to cooperate with federal immigration operations, were a major target during President Trump’s first term. He signed an executive order to withdraw federal grants from jurisdictions based on their immigration policies. In 2018, that order was blocked, before the block was overturned in 2020.
During the 2024 election campaign, President Trump promised that he would abolish sanctuary jurisdictions if elected.
Attorney General Pam Bondi targeted these jurisdictions immediately upon her confirmation, ordering federal funding to them to be paused and a full investigation of all funding agreements these jurisdictions have with NGOs that offer assistance to illegal aliens. She has also launched a number of lawsuits against sanctuary cities, including Chicago and New York.
At the end of March, Border Czar Tom Homan led a series of raids in the sanctuary state of Massachusetts, arresting nearly 400 illegal aliens, the majority of whom were criminals.
Hellbound and Down 