Trump Floats Dropping Illegals Off In Sanctuary Cities
2:53 PM 04/12/2019 | Politics
Saagar Enjeti | White House Correspondent
https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/12/trump-floats-dropping-illegals-off-in-sanctuary-cities/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social
President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a plan to release illegal aliens eligible for catch-and-release into sanctuary cities, he tweeted Friday.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley offered an expanded statement, saying, “Democrats say we must have open borders and that illegal immigrants have a right to be in this country at all costs, so they should be working with the administration to find the best ways to transport those illegal aliens that are already set for release, into communities in their districts and states.”
Trump and the White House’s statements come after reports from The Washington Post that the administration considered a plan months ago to bus illegal immigrants captured at the U.S.-Mexico border to sanctuary cities.
U.S. authorities are required to release migrants who claim asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border when they present as a family unit.
These migrants are generally released from detention centers across the southwest and are then free to settle wherever they choose as they go through years of asylum hearings. Many of the migrants do not show up for their final asylum hearings, where the majority are not granted status in the United States yet remain at-large. (RELATED: Here’s Why Trump And Nielsen Parted Ways)
Officials call this type of asylum-seeking “backdoor illegal immigration,” given that the migrants are most often than not coming for economic reasons, not fleeing persecution.
The Trump administration proposal aligns with historic arrivals of illegal immigrants at the southern border claiming asylum. Customs and Border Patrol reported Tuesday afternoon that the agency apprehended 103,000 illegal immigrants in March alone.