Faced with Trump’s plans for mass evictions, some sanctuary cities are changing their tune

Leaders of several sanctuary cities where officials clearly rejected the immigration policies of Donald Trump’s first term are changing their tune as he prepares to return to office and implement his mass deportation plans.

Some local officials have softened their desire for their cities to be identified with the “sanctuary city” label and pledged to work with federal immigration authorities. But others have stepped up efforts to make their cities sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants and reject any notion of cooperating with a Trump administration seeking to deport millions of them.

The mixed approaches of officials in some of the largest and heavily Democratic cities in the United States underscore the nation’s evolving immigration policy. While leaders in these cities largely — and often loudly — rejected Trump’s immigration policies during his final term in the White House, some are now willing to work more closely with his administration on a priority absolute or to moderate their rhetoric.

In Philadelphia, Mayor Cherelle Parker and District Attorney Larry Krasner, both Democrats, appear to have avoided some of the rhetoric celebrating the city as a sanctuary — as well as the oppositional approach taken by city officials in the past.

When asked if he still considered Philadelphia a sanctuary city, Krasner did not answer directly.

“Sanctuary city can mean a lot of things, and this whole discussion can get confusing and maybe generate more heat than light,” he said in an interview with NBC News. Krasner said Philadelphia is “a city of brotherhood, of love, of brotherly affection, where we respect and support our hard-working, law-abiding and contributing immigrant neighbors.”

Krasner added that he would “follow the law, follow the Constitution, and whatever that tells us to do, we will do.”

“To the extent that ICE has the legal right to do things, we obviously won’t interfere,” he said, but added that if “ICE agents do things that constitute crimes, they’re going to have a problem.”

Sanctuary city is not an official term. Rather, it is a city, county, or municipality that has enacted laws that explicitly or effectively prevent or limit the cooperation of local officials with federal immigration authorities in connection with a broader effort to keep undocumented immigrants safe.

Parker, the mayor, was asked last week during an interview with NBC10 in Philadelphia whether she considered Philadelphia a sanctuary city. She circled around the question, responding: “I believe that in America, our diversity is by far our greatest strength. »

“We are a city made up of neighborhoods and I too believe that our diversity is our greatest strength,” she said.

Asked by NBC News whether Parker had identified Philadelphia as a sanctuary city and whether city officials would cooperate with ICE and the Trump administration if they moved forward with deporting undocumented immigrants, her door -speaker also declined to respond directly.

“As Mayor Parker made clear after the November election, the Parker administration remains focused on the agenda Philadelphians elected it to deliver: making Philadelphia a safer, cleaner, greener city with a access to economic opportunities for all,” the spokesperson said. , Joe Grace, said in an email to NBC News.

Grace added that the city’s 2016 ordinance on ICE detainers remains in effect. In 2016, then-Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order prohibiting the city from honoring certain ICE detainers (a detainer is a request to local authorities to hold an immigrant who is to be released for an additional 48 hours to protect it). allow ICE to support them).

While that policy remains in place, the cautious tone taken by Parker and Krasner marks a notable shift from that taken by city officials during Trump’s first term. Kenney, for example, was filmed happily singing and dancing in 2018 after a judge ruled in favor of the city’s sanctuary policies.

The linchpin of immigration in New York for years

In New York, a change in immigration policy has been underway for several years. Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who met with Trump in Florida on Friday, indicated interest in working with the new administration, particularly on immigration issues.

New York has struggled to cope with a surge in migrant arrivals in recent years — a “crisis” that would “destroy” the city, Adams said in 2023. Adams has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration on the issue , saying she hadn’t done enough. to help New York and other cities. He also met with the new border czar, Tom Homan, in December.

While Adams continues to call New York a sanctuary city, he has signaled his desire to change the city’s laws in a way that allows city officials to cooperate with federal immigration and law enforcement authorities to deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Last month, he said migrants accused of crimes should not necessarily receive due process.

His broader approach stands in stark contrast to that of his predecessor, Bill de Blasio, who was mayor of New York during Trump’s first term.

In 2014, when Barack Obama was president, de Blasio, a Democrat, helped enact laws that significantly restricted the city’s law enforcement agencies from working with ICE agents seeking to deport undocumented immigrants. Throughout the Trump administration, he expanded some of these laws to make it even more difficult for ICE agents to deport undocumented immigrants.

Adams spokeswoman Liz Garcia said the mayor “has made clear that New York City will always be a city of immigrants, which is why the Adams administration has worked diligently over the past months to ensure city staff have the most accurate and up-to-date information. date information on how to enforce our sanctuary city laws.

“We also continue to work with New York immigrants to ensure they know their rights when it comes to federal immigration enforcement,” Garcia said. “Our administration is doing the work to provide for immigrant communities across the city.”

Other local Democratic leaders say they won’t be ‘intimidated’

Meanwhile, leaders of other major sanctuary cities have maintained a posture of aggressive opposition to the new Trump administration on immigration issues.

In the weeks after Trump’s victory in November, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said the city would “not bend or break” its sanctuary laws.

He told the Washington Post in November that “there will be no cooperation” with ICE deportations.

And last week, the Chicago City Council rejected a proposal that would have relaxed laws barring city officials from cooperating with federal immigration authorities who target individuals involved in certain violent and drug crimes.

Responding to questions from NBC News on the issue, Johnson spokeswoman Erin Connelly forwarded a recent press release that stated: “The City of Chicago and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration reaffirm our commitment to the ordinance reception of the city. » Chicago’s sanctuary policies are part of this ordinance.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, has been even more outspoken about preserving his city’s sanctuary laws under the second Trump administration.

“We’re not going to change that, because those are one of our core values,” Johnston told the Colorado news site Denverite in November. “We are not going to sell these values ​​to anyone. We will not be intimidated into changing them.

In that interview, Johnston also raised the idea that Denver police, along with Denver citizens, could come together to stop federal immigration authorities from deporting undocumented immigrants.

“It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, isn’t it?” he said.

Responding to questions from NBC News about Denver’s status as a sanctuary city and the extent to which city officials might cooperate with ICE, Johnston spokesperson Jordan Fuja said in a statement: “Denver defines itself as a welcoming city and we have laws on the books, both city and state, that ensure that local police are not doing the work of federal immigration enforcement. That’s the federal government’s job, not ours.”

“If Donald Trump attempts to break the law and abuse his power, he will receive no help from us,” the statement said, adding that the mayor “is considering a number of options to strengthen protections for all our residents.

“Denver prides itself on being a welcoming city and we will do everything in our power to protect those who live here,” the statement continued.