Donald Trump used his pen to take on immigration Wednesday, in a first week where he has tried to sign many of his campaign promises into law.
He signed two executive orders designed to begin building a border wall with Mexico, and to add jails detaining illegal immigrants, The Los Angeles Times reports.
They also aim to strip federal funding to “sanctuary cities” or places that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement. Sanctuary cities are jursdicitions, about 400 of them, that offer some kind of assistance to immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Mayors of sanctuary cities throughout the country immediately spoke out against the action, saying they would always offer sanctuary to immigrants. Here are some of their comments:
“We’re going to stay a sanctuary city,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “Wherever you came from, you’re welcome here.”
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“This city will not be bullied by this administration,” Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said. “We believe we have the rule of law and the courts on our side.”
“Here in New York City and in cities across this nation, this order could in fact undermine public safety,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Wednesday evening.
“We’re not going to sacrifice any of our folks here in Providence,” said Jorge Elorza, the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. “My job is to represent every single resident in the city of Providence, and we will continue to do that.”
The Mayor of Washington, D.C. and Boston also spoke out against the action.
We’ll stay on top of what occurs next.