Sanctuary cities and Trump’s immigration policy

Sanctuary cities have become one of the favorite targets of the Trump administration.

The term refers to cities that don’t fully cooperate with federal efforts to find and deport unauthorized immigrants.

The idea that jurisdictions run by Democratic governments — including cities around the country and even some blue states like California — are obstructing federal immigration enforcement to protect “illegal immigrants” is at the heart of the debate over sanctuary cities and states.

In the imaginations of the most heated immigration hawks, sanctuary cities and states are places where the rule of law simply doesn’t apply — where Democratic-controlled governments have allied with “open borders radicals” to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting unauthorized immigrants even when they’ve been convicted of crimes.

In the imaginations of some progressives, sanctuary policies have become a way for Democratic-governed parts of the US to demonstrate that they reject the Trump administration’s immigration agenda and the idea of America it projects, and want to protect everyone who lives within their jurisdiction regardless of legal status.