“Wait ‘til you see what’s coming” – Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” issued a thinly-veiled threat at state and local officials across the country last Thursday, May 1st. The warning shot issued by Homan is just the latest development in the Trump administration’s inhumane policy towards immigrants. Homan was responding to a question about Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’ guidance to state and local agencies not to immediately comply with ICE or CBP officials, and to instead contact legal representatives. This shot comes at a time when Trump is again taking aim at so-called sanctuary cities (cities or jurisdictions that have policies of not complying with federal immigration officials). The current administration is going one step further than in Trump’s first term.
The advisory issued by the Justice Department targets not just federal funding to jurisdictions with sanctuary policies, but attempts to prosecute the officials administering them. Homan goes on: “…you can support sanctuary cities… [b]ut if you cross that line of impediment or knowingly harboring and concealing an illegal alien, that is a felony, and we will treat it as such.”
And can we really depend on the Democrats to defend immigrants if there is potential jail time as a consequence? California Governor Newsom can’t even bring himself to say the word sanctuary, likely because he thinks it may harm his (rumored) upcoming presidential run. San Francisco Mayor Lurie refused to sign a non-binding resolution reaffirming the city’s sanctuary status. If Democratic politicians won’t risk mild political consequences, we can be sure they won’t come close to risking confrontation with the federal government.
As deportation raids continue across the country and hundreds already languish in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, we must face the fact that sanctuary status won’t be enough to protect us. The Democrats in charge of these policies aren’t going to risk their freedom to defend them. The only people we can depend on to protect our communities and put a stop to deportations are ourselves. The working class has no borders. Regular working Americans have far more in common with immigrants from El Salvador or Venezuela than they do with Trump or any of his billionaire allies. We should reject these attacks as attempts to divide the working class and as assaults on our communities.
