Los Angeles Passes ‘Sanctuary City’ Ordinance In Wake Of Trump’s Deportation Plan
'We’re going to send a very clear message'
'She's not very smart': Boston mayor vows to hinder deportation of illegal aliens. Homan signals it won't matter.
Boston's Democratic mayor has worked hard to depreciate the value of citizenship and degrade the quality of living in her city.
Michelle Wu, a soft-on-crime defender of race-segregated events who drafted a list of critics for police to check on, has funneled taxpayer funds to nonprofits that aid illegal aliens; advocated for closing the Boston Police gang database as well as for allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections; conditioned participation in city life on vaccination status; stood idly by while undocumented migrants overwhelm her city; and looked to noncitizens and children to make potential budgetary decisions.
Given her track record and Boston's "sanctuary city" status, Wu's recent suggestions that Beantown might try to hinder the incoming Trump administration's efforts to deport criminal illegal aliens were altogether unsurprising. She may have, however, been surprised by the frankness of the response by President-elect Donald Trump's incoming "border czar."
'They can't cross a clear line.'
Wu, who is planning to run for re-election in 2025, reminded GBH News last week that Boston law prohibits police and city officials from helping federal authorities track down and deport illegal aliens. While the laws on the books only guarantee passivity from local law enforcement, she intimated that the city might take an active role in impeding deportation efforts, noting that she has been planning for a number of different scenarios.
"We still have other mechanisms where we can identify spaces that might be most targeted and think about protections there," said Wu.
When speaking to WCVB-TV on Sunday, Wu appeared to suggest that the city will exhaust its options when protecting illegal aliens from consequence.
What we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large-scale economic impact. And then we are providing the spaces to reach out directly to our residents because the last thing we want is for people who are part of our economy, part of our school system, part of our community and the fabric of our city to feel that all of a sudden, they have to retreat in the shadows.
In response to Wu, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas D. Homan told Newsmax TV's Greg Kelly, "She's not very smart."
"President Trump is going to prioritize public safety threats. What mayor or governor doesn't want public safety threats out of their communities? That's our number one responsibility: to protect their communities, and that's exactly what we're going to do," said Homan. "So she helps us [or] she gets the hell out of the way because we're going to do it."
Homan stressed that federal law is explicit and Wu would do best to follow it.
"There's a clear line here. They can't cross a clear line. I would suggest that she read Title 8, United States Code 1324 iii that says you can't harbor, conceal an illegal alien from federal law enforcement officers," said Homan. "I hope she don't cross that line. They can not cooperate, but there are certain laws in place that they can't cross."
The law that Homan referred to makes it a punishable offense if one "conceals, harbors or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor or shield from detection" illegal aliens.
If violating the statute and placing someone's life in jeopardy, the offender could be fined and/or imprisoned for up to 20 years for each alien involved. If by violating the statute an individual gets someone killed, then the offender could be "punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life."
Like Wu, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) has indicated that she would use "every tool in the toolbox" to shield "residents" from accountability.
Blaze News previously reported that Homan intends to send more ICE officers to sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
"If they're not gonna help us, then we'll just double the manpower in those cities. They don't want ICE agents in their neighborhoods, but they don't let ICE agents in the jail. They don't understand, if you let us in the jail, that'd be less agents in your neighborhood," Homan told "Fox News Live."
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Democrat strategist promises protests to protect illegal immigrants from military deportation
Julie Roginsky, a Democratic strategist, told conservative CNN contributor Scott Jennings on Monday that she promises she will be among the American citizens who will be protesting to prevent illegal immigrants from being deported by the military.
The topic came up as a CNN panel was discussing President-elect Donald Trump's promise to declare a national emergency over the number of illegal immigrants in the nation and to use military assets to help law enforcement carry out deportation operations.
'If anybody comes for these people and tries to drag them out by force, there will be protests of people like me, American citizens.'
Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq war veteran, acknowledged that while voters clearly want something to be done to address the issue, he insisted it should not include using the U.S. military.
"What's the alternative, to let the crisis continue?" Jennings asked Rieckhoff.
"It's not deploy the 82nd or let the crisis continue. There's plenty of middle ground. And by the way, our military has plenty of other priorities they need to focus on right now in addition to these. ...They want it solved. They don't want the 82nd Airborne dropping into New York City," Rieckhoff replied.
Roginsky interjected by noting there is a shelter for "undocumented immigrants" in her Upper Westside neighborhood.
"I can promise you with every fiber of my being because I will probably be one of those people, if anybody comes for these people and tries to drag them out by force, there will be protests of people like me, American citizens, who are going to stand there and do everything possible," Roginsky said.
When former Trump administration official Marc Lotter asked about the criminals and suspected terrorists in the groups Roginsky wants to protect, she became incensed.
"Stop! How do you know who it is? Stop, stop, stop! I live next to these people. I can tell you they are women, and they are children. ... I am telling you right now, practically speaking, is that there will be people, American citizens, who will prevent these little kids from being dragged out of these shelters. ... What is going to happen to the military when the military opens fire on us?" Roginsky continued.
"We're way down a rabbit hole here," Jennings said in response.
You can view a clip of the fiery exchange here.
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Red-wave Latinos helped build Trump’s new coalition
After the 2020 election, many establishment media voices claimed Donald Trump’s 2016 victory was a fluke, suggesting Americans “came to their senses” in the next election. But the outcome of the 2024 election validated what many on the right have argued for years: Trump and his positions reflect the desires of a majority of voters rather than fringe views.
Yet Trump’s win did not affirm every right-wing talking point. Immigration restrictionists, who rallied around Trump early in his 2016 campaign, have argued that mass immigration, both legal and illegal, would push the country to the left. Their reasoning is based on the fact that most nonwhite immigrant groups in the United States tend to favor the Democratic Party over Republicans.
America doesn’t need to become more like the Third World.
The 2024 election results throw a monkey wrench in the works. While whites still make up most (84%) of GOP voters and support the GOP at a higher rate (56%) than any other group, Trump made significant inroads with some minority groups. He won 42% of the Latino vote, and among Latino men, his support climbed to 47%.
This election isn’t the first in which Trump increased his share of the Latino vote. In 2016, 28% of Latinos voted Republican; by 2020, that figure rose to 38%. Now, with Trump receiving 42% of the Hispanic vote, some have begun reconsidering the argument that mass immigration primarily benefits the Democratic Party.
Two key factors shape this shift.
First, this argument remains valid until large immigrant groups consistently vote Republican. Trump gained ground with Asians in this election, another significant immigrant group, increasing his share from 28% in 2020 to 38% this year. Although exit polls do not detail Indian-American voting patterns, the 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey shows Indian-American support for Trump increased from 22% in 2020 to 31%.
The rightward shift among America’s largest immigrant groups signals an encouraging trend. Regardless of one’s stance on demographic change — personally, I believe our demographics were just fine around the time Hart-Cellar passed in 1965 — legal immigrants have become an integral part of the electorate. Encouraging them to support economic freedom, meritocracy, non-interventionism, and immigration restriction benefits everyone.
Rather than refuting immigration restrictionism, this shift proves that restricting immigration provides a solid foundation for building a broad right-wing coalition. Staving off future demographic changes doesn’t require hard-line white nationalism; in fact, a more inclusive approach appears more effective in countering the Great Replacement narrative. Ironic, isn’t it?
As mentioned, America’s largest immigrant groups continue voting primarily Democrat, supporting the argument that voting trends still favor immigration restriction. But let’s imagine a scenario where these trends shift — where, one day in the not-too-distant future, Hispanics, Indians, and East Asians start voting majority Republican.
That outcome may be unlikely any time soon. But for argument’s sake, let’s consider it.
Even under such circumstances, strong reasons for supporting immigration restriction remain. Mass immigration suppresses Americans’ wages, replaces skilled American workers with foreign labor, reduces social trust, erodes social capital, and, depending on the origin, lowers the nation’s average IQ — not exactly a desirable outcome.
Mass immigration threatens to permanently erase the America we know and love. While immigrants arriving in smaller numbers often assimilate, those coming in the millions are more likely to retain the attitudes and beliefs of their home countries, causing America to increasingly resemble those places.
Personally, I don’t think America needs to become more like the Third World.
Fortunately, the 2024 election results have dispelled another argument used against immigration restrictionists: that running on an immigration restriction platform will alienate minority voters, specifically Latinos.
This argument influenced the GOP’s shift away from the Southern strategy, which appealed to disaffected white working-class voters, toward a more pro-diversity approach.
George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign exemplified this shift. In a speech to La Raza, he pledged $100 million to expedite permanent residency applications, saying, “I like to fight that stereotype that sometimes we don't have the corazon necessary to hear the voices of people from all political parties and all walks of life.” His campaign even ran ads on Spanish-speaking media.
Bush’s pro-immigration, pro-diversity campaign only earned him 35% of the Latino vote — considerably less than Trump received this year running on mass deportations. The fact that Trump managed to win record Latino support while pursuing something resembling the Southern strategy should show how nonsensical it was for Republicans to tack left on immigration in the attempt to appeal to those voters.
Whether the GOP hits a ceiling among these minority voters remains to be seen. But even if immigrant groups continue moving rightward, we should remember that the case against mass immigration ultimately transcends the voting trends argument.
After decades of reckless immigration policy, it is time for a moratorium.
Pentagon officials reportedly scheming how to respond to Trump orders they don't like
Days prior to the 2020 presidential election, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley telephoned his communist Chinese counterpart, General Li Zuocheng. Milley reportedly reassured Zuocheng that he would provide him with actionable warnings should his commander in chief, then President Donald Trump, decide to attack, thereby nullifying the strategic advantage of a possible American surprise attack for the benefit of an adversarial nation.
According to Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's book "Peril," Milley also plotted in secret to deprive the American president of his ability to swiftly defend the nation with nuclear weapons, telling senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center not to follow orders unless he personally gave the green light.
It appears Pentagon officials are once again figuring out ways of undermining Trump, possibly at the nation's expense.
Defense officials recently told CNN that elements of the Department of Defense have been holding informal discussions about how they might respond to Trump orders they find objectionable, such as the firing of redundant bureaucrats or the domestic deployment of troops.
'There is huge risk in disobeying a president's order.'
"We are all preparing and planning for the worst-case scenario, but the reality is that we don't know how this is going to play out yet," said one defense official.
Among the concerns reportedly entertained by would-be obstructors is that Trump might deploy active-duty forces to help Customs and Border Protection — something military officials were happy to do when President Joe Biden took office. It appears the difference is that Trump might use the forces effectively.
One former senior DOD official noted that unlike the military, law enforcement agencies "don't have the manpower, they don't have the helicopters, the trucks, the expeditionary capabilities" that are likely necessary to execute Trump's mass deportation plan. While using the military to make good on Trump's campaign promise is sensible, "it is a big deal," suggested the official.
Sending troops into American cities is hardly unprecedented. For instance, President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act during the 1992 Los Angeles race riots and tasked federal troops with restoring order.
'We will clean out all of the corrupt actors.'
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memo following Trump's landslide victory, directing the military to "make a calm, orderly, and professional transition to the incoming Trump administration."
Austin also made a point of specifying that the military must obey "lawful" orders.
"The U.S military will stand ready to carry out the policy choices of its next Commander in Chief," wrote Austin, "and to obey all lawful orders from its civilian chain of command."
"Troops are compelled by law to disobey unlawful orders," one defense official told CNN. "But the question is what happens then — do we see resignations from senior military leaders? Or would they view that as abandoning their people?"
Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute made clear to Reuters that there is a big difference between lawful orders and orders believed to be immoral.
"There is a widespread public misperception that the military can choose not to obey immoral orders. And that's actually not true," said Schake.
Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force attorney, told the Washington Post, "They will follow President Trump's orders, particularly because the president can lawfully order domestic use of the military in a wide variety of situations."
"There is huge risk in disobeying a president's order and seemingly little risk in obeying it," added VanLandingham.
The other big concern that insiders are reportedly "gaming out" is that Trump might trim the fat as promised, at least where government bloat is concerned.
Trump plans to reissue his 2020 executive order establishing the Schedule F employment category for federal employees, making it easier to remove insubordinate and useless bureaucrats from an estimated pool of 50,000 eligible candidates.
"I will wield that power very aggressively," Trump vowed in a March 2023 video. "We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them."
Vice President-elect JD Vance told Tucker Carlson ahead of Election Day, "If the people in your own government aren't obeying you, you have got to get rid of them and replace them with people who are responsive to what the president's trying to do."
While Biden announced a rule earlier this year aimed at further shielding federal bureaucrats from being ousted under a framework resembling Schedule F, one defense official told CNN that "there are still ways a new administration could work around these protections."
"My email has been inundated on this topic," said an unnamed defense official. "Definitely going to be a busy couple months."
Blaze News reached out to the DOD's press operations office for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.
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Trump names his border czar, revealing he means business
President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday that former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Thomas D. Homan will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration.
"The Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation's Borders ('The Border Czar'), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security," Trump noted on Truth Social.
"I've known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders. Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin," continued Trump. "Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job."
Homan, the president and CEO of Border911, has proven himself to be a no-nonsense law enforcement official, unwavering in his belief that like other criminals, illegal aliens "should be afraid" when flouting America's laws.
Trump promoted Homan to acting ICE director in January 2017, then nominated him as director. According to the New York Times, illegal immigration arrests skyrocketed 38% under Homan from Jan. 22 to April 29, as compared with the previous year under former President Barack Obama, who gave him the government's highest civil service award in 2015.
"These statistics reflect President Trump's commitment to enforce our immigration laws fairly and across the board," Homan said at the time.
Extra to criticizing so-called sanctuary cities and demonstrating a willingness to go after any of the tens of millions of illegal aliens who had stolen into the homeland, Homan helped blow up Democrats' family-separation talking point, underscoring that the U.S. has separated minors and adults at the border for over three decades.
'I got down on my knees, put my hand on the child's head, and said a prayer.'
When Homan — whose Senate confirmation never came — retired in April 2018, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stated,
Under his exceptional leadership, the men and women of ICE have made significant progress in restoring the rule of law to our immigration system. Consistent with the priorities set out by President Trump, the past year has seen arrests increase by 40 percent, interior removals increase by 30 percent, and the highest number of MS-13 arrests since 2008. But perhaps most important to Tom is that employee morale at ICE is the highest it has been since 2010, which I believe is due in large part to his passionate leadership.
While the liberal media has attempted in recent years to characterize Homan as callous, he revealed to the Atlantic in 2022 that his desire to end illegal immigration and secure the border was not born solely out of a sense of duty to the nation and his fellow citizens but also out of a sense of humanitarian responsibility to would-be border-jumpers.
In 2003, he was reportedly called to a crime scene in Victoria, Texas, where over 70 illegal aliens had been found crammed into a semitruck. When the trailer was opened, corpses tumbled out. Seventeen were dead, and two more would ultimately die. Among the dead was a 5-year-old boy — the same age as Homan's son at the time.
"I got down on my knees, put my hand on the child's head, and said a prayer, because I could only imagine what his last hour of life must have been like, how scared he must have been. Couldn't breathe, pitch black, begging his father to help him. His father couldn't help," said Homan. "What was his father thinking? He'd put him in that position, right? His father was probably saying, 'I can't believe I did this.'"
'What price do you put on national security?'
Homan added, "That one instance made me who I am today, because it's preventable. We could stop this."
Homan demonstrated the continued strength of his resolve in an interview last month with CBS News' "60 Minutes." When asked about the potential cost of deporting one million illegal aliens a year, Homan said, "What price do you put on national security?"
The former ICE boss further revealed a resistance to emotional manipulation.
Correspondent Cecilia Vega concern-mongered about the possibility families might be separated as a consequence of mass deportation. Homan reassured Vega, "Families can be deported together."
While Homan is likely to succeed in the position, the previous border czar, failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, set the bar incredibly low. After all, she oversaw the illegal entry of tens of millions of foreign nationals into the country, including terroristic gang members and human traffickers.
Homan told Fox News over the weekend that the deportation campaign is "going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They're good at it."
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Chasing Hispanic Voters, Kamala Harris Lies In Another Language At Town Hall
When Harris wasn’t affecting awkward 'Latinx' accents, she was reinventing history and lying about her party’s reverence for 'democracy.'Today's top stories
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