Trump administration officials are preparing to roll out a bold new strategy aimed at bypassing local resistance to their immigration policies, according to Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen, who expressed admiration for the plan.
Thiessen, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, told a Fox News panel he was impressed after learning that immigration officials—led by White House border czar Tom Homan and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller—are set to introduce a new classification of criminal behavior among illegal aliens, one that could force sanctuary cities and states to take action despite their opposition.
Up to this point, sanctuary jurisdictions have largely been able to disregard civil detainers issued by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. These detainers are filed when federal officials are notified that a suspected alien has been taken into custody. In many cases, the individuals are released on their own recognizance or after posting bond, often before ICE agents have a chance to take them into federal custody.
However, such jurisdictions may find it far more difficult to ignore felony federal warrants, a new charge the Trump administration plans to apply to illegal immigrants once they are located.
“Two elections now, Donald Trump has beaten the Democrats, powered by illegal immigration, and they still can’t seem to get it right,” Thiessen said while speaking about the Los Angeles riots. “You have people literally burning cars, throwing rocks at ICE agents, and the Democrats are siding with the protesters over the administration trying to restore law and order.”
“And what has the left riled up, and what’s causing all this, is that the Trump administration has figured out a way around sanctuary city laws. Local officials can refuse to honor an ICE detainer, but they can’t refuse to honor a federal felony warrant,” Thiessen continued.
“So the Trump administration has this thing called Operation Guardian Angel, where they are charging illegal migrants who reenter the country with felony illegal reentry, and then they are presenting the local jurisdictions with federal felony warrants, and they have to hand them over,” he continued. “So they’ve been handing over hundreds of illegal migrants to ICE, and this has set people off—they found a way to basically lock the sanctuary city policies.”
Fox News host Shannon Bream noted that the ACLU has denounced the tactic as an “inflammatory and abusive use of power.” Bream went on to quote the left-wing legal group: “By taking this action, the Trump administration is putting them in danger, creating jeopardy for troops, and recklessly undermining our foundational democratic principle that the military should not police civilians.”
That said, Trump remains confident that his actions align with the majority of public opinion. Polls released this week by CNN and CBS News indicate strong support for his immigration policies, with a clear majority of Americans expressing approval, particularly for his focus on prioritizing the deportation of violent undocumented immigrants.
