He wrote on Twitter: “Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only.... The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!”
Trump’s comments come a day after his administration said the policy proposal was never seriously considered.
Last year, Trump administration officials had floated the idea of transporting migrants to so-called sanctuary cities, which do not strictly adhere to federal immigration laws, as a way to address the influx of migrants crossing the southern border. One of the highest-profile sanctuary cities is San Francisco, home to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is one of the president’s top political rivals and a thorn in his efforts to change U.S. immigration laws. The White House raised the proposal again in February, suggesting it could punish Democrats for rejecting budget requests for border security.
Pelosi’s office condemned the Trump administration for the idea, which the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday was ultimately rejected.
But Trump’s Twitter posts Friday indicated it was not off the table, and the president appeared to revel in the Democratic outrage.
The White House on Thursday called the proposal a “nonstory” and said, “these are illegal aliens already being released and sent to U.S. communities every day.”
A top immigration official at homeland security pushed back against the proposal at the time, and said it would create “an unnecessary operational burden” on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.