Last night, The Washington Post broke a story about the Trump administration that — even by the woefully degraded standards of this current White House — was so stunningly immoral and idiotic as to be almost impossible to believe.
According to Department of Homeland Security officials who spoke to The Post, the White House tried to pressure immigration officials into capturing undocumented immigrants and then releasing them into Democratically controlled areas, targeting so-called sanctuary cities like New York and San Francisco.
When asked about the stunning proposal by The Post, the Trump administration tried to downplay it and insisted that it was no longer an option on the table.
“This was just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion,” said the White House.
One should not be surprised to learn that the proposal is actually very much still in play. Earlier today, Trump tweeted that he is considering releasing “illegal immigrants” into sanctuary cities because Democrats are “unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws,” boldly admitting that he intends to abuse his presidential powers to target his political enemies and their constituents.
He ended the two-part tweet by incorrectly stating that Democrats support “open borders.” In reality, Democrats support sensible, measured immigration and believe that immigrants make our nation stronger, a belief that stands in stark contrast to Trump’s xenophobic anti-immigrant platform.
Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019
….The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019
Now, Democrats are hitting back at the president hard for his vile partisan hackery. Since one of the cities that would be targeted is San Francisco, the home district for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), it didn’t take for long for her to condemn Trump’s plot in no uncertain terms.
“I don’t know anything about it, but again, it’s just another notion that is unworthy of the presidency of the United States and disrespectful of the challenges that we face as a county, as a people, to address who we are: a nation of immigrants,” said Pelosi, according to The Hill.
“If it’s true, it is very unfortunate and to be condemned. That you could use ICE — or any other federal agency — to penalize or to visit retribution for political reasons, that’s not the act of a democratic government,” said Stoyer.