Homan: Ending sanctuary city policies will save ‘thousands of lives’

White House border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday expressed the Trump administration’s commitment to cracking down on sanctuary cities following the killing of a college student in Chicago last week. 

“President Trump wants to take sanctuary cities on, and we’re going to continue taking them on,” Homan told NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich. “We got to end sanctuary city policies, because doing so will save thousands, thousands of lives.”

Chicago is one of 200-plus cities or counties in 13 states that have implemented a sanctuary city policy, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. These municipalities pledge to not cooperate with federal authorities on immigration enforcement operations. 

The death of Loyola University Chicago student Sheridan Gorman has brought renewed calls from Trump administration officials to crack down on sanctuary city policies. Gorman was fatally shot by a Venezuelan citizen last Thursday. 

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused the White House of “politicizing” her death and condemned the killing. 

“The Trump Administration needs to stop politicizing heinous tragedies and instead focus on real solutions, like reinstating federal funds to prevent violence that support our public safety efforts,” Pritzker said in a Tuesday statement shared with NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network.

In January, President Trump announced he would stop the payout of federal funds to sanctuary cities and states starting Feb. 1. However, the move has faced roadblocks in the courts and has not gone into effect. 

The Trump administration targeted the sanctuary city of Minneapolis in the largest immigration enforcement operation in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) history earlier this year. 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stood firmly by the city’s sanctuary policy amid intense pressure from the administration, calling it a “safety strategy.”

“We want people who are undocumented to have the confidence to call 911 without the fear that they’ll get deported in doing so,” Frey said during a CNN town hall in January. “That is a safety strategy. That is not an immigration strategy. That is a safety strategy.”

Homan told NewsNation on Tuesday that the administration had “real success” in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge.

“Minneapolis and the state are less of a sanctuary state and less of a sanctuary city, because now we’re getting unprecedented access to the jails and the prisons,” the border czar said.

“So we can arrest a bad guy in the safety and security of a jail, rather than putting our office at risk of arresting him on the street,” he continued. “I wish Chicago would follow that lead, because, you know, it just, it doesn’t make sense.”

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