Sanctuary States in USA have been there for long, known for protecting undocumented immigrants in USA, but do they really face a threat from Trump winning the election?
Illegal Immigration holds a place of paramount significance in his agenda of creating a physical wall across the southern border however the State Mayors especially the ones of sanctuary states are not ready to give up as, they have been carrying on their livelihood whether personal or professional and they provide cheap source of labor to local small industries.
Face-off between Trump and Sanctuary States
Would Trump cut of funding of the sanctuary States? The immigrant sanctuaries continue to be a place to residence for many undocumented immigrants and with Trump going gaga about his propaganda to cut off those cities from federal funding has emerged to be a prospective major reason for face-off between Donald Trump and the sanctuary states. These sanctuary states work on the mechanism of not reporting any illegal immigration case to the US Immigration and Customs authorities thereby safeguarding all those who have been living there for long.
Are all undocumented immigrants under threat or only with Criminal Past?-There is a lot of distraught among the people living in such sanctuaries over what lies ahead. On one side if people are having stressful sleepless nights; on the other side, the State Mayors are assuring such families that the sanctuary states will remain to be so and nothing will be distorted. If Trump is to be believed then he did mention deporting somewhere around 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants as soon as he joins office but hinted on an unclear demarcation on deporting only those who have a criminal record in addition to them being staying illegally in the sanctuary states.
What the Mayors have to say?
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been reassuring the residents about Chicago’s status of sanctuary city to stay even after Trump’s administration not likely to support it. Moreover he also emphasized on the economic, cultural and intellectual importance the sanctuaries cities like Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia hold in the US economy therefore cutting off all the funding and penalizing these states would ultimately do no good at all.
The Mayors of the sanctuary states are adamant on their states’ sanctuary status and are prepared to fight back Trump’s decision to defund them.
Some States have said that even if they have to face a financial cost for continuing to protect the illegal immigrants from the Trump administration – they will do so.
The Mayor of Someville, Massachusettes in the meanwhile has issued an executive order (also called the Trust Act) that protects the immigrants with minors and or no criminal records from the possible deportation, they can face.
What lies ahead?
An uncertain future holds a lot many unanswered questions from the Trump administration. Moreover there is no clarity on the plan, he has for deporting the so many illegal immigrants who have been staying there since ages. If news is to be believed then there is quite a possibility that if localities continue to oppose Trump’s decision and opposing to help the federal government then Trump is going to make it hard for them to resist.
Also Read- Will self deportation of Illegal Immigrants be on the anvil?