The Trump administration will begin sending 100 border patrol officers to so-called sanctuary cities to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A senior official with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told NBC News that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were being deployed to work with ICE from February to May to “enhance integrity of the immigration system, protect public safety, and strengthen our national security.”
The decision to deploy the officers comes as Trump administration officials hammer sanctuary cities, which limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration enforcement officers.
The decision can extend the scope of CBP’s enforcement authority. The agency typically detains people along the border and at other entrances into the country and has broad powers within 100 miles of a border. Meanwhile, ICE conducts immigration raids in non-border parts of the country.
Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence confirmed the cooperation to The Hill, saying in a statement that in “jurisdictions where we are not allowed to assume custody” of immigrants from jail, their immigration officers were “forced to make at-large arrests” of immigrants who had been “released into communities.”
“When sanctuary cities release these criminals back to the street, it increases the occurrence of preventable crimes, and more importantly, preventable victims,” he said.
A DHS spokesperson added to The Hill that the cooperation will help ICE, which “does not have sufficient resources to effectively manage the sustained increase in non-detained cases which is exacerbated by the rise of sanctuary jurisdictions.”
A senior DHS official told NBC News that the cities targeted in the deployment were New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J.
President Trump has long railed against sanctuary cities, accusing them of enacting policies that allow criminals to remain in the country.
“Democrats must change the Immigration Laws FAST. If not, Sanctuary Cities must immediately ACT to take care of the Illegal Immigrants – and this includes Gang Members, Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers, and Criminals of all shapes, sizes and kinds. CHANGE THE LAWS NOW!” he tweeted last year.