Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Tuesday that the White House is actively looking for legal ways to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and states that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Mullin made the remarks on Fox News, describing a meeting that had just taken place in the Oval Office. "Literally 20 minutes ago, I was sitting in the Oval Office of the president, and we were having this conversation about how do we withhold funding legally from these sanctuary cities," Mullin told host Laura Ingraham.
The secretary questioned why cities that designate themselves as sanctuaries should continue to receive federal money tied to immigration-related operations. "Why are we allowing these sanctuary cities to still get funding from the federal government when it comes to, let's say, their airport, when we're processing immigration through these international airports? Why would we be processing immigration policies and immigrants into our state or into a city that is a sanctuary state or sanctuary city? It doesn't make any sense to me," he said.
Mullin's comments came after DHS announced the results of a New York-focused operation called Rotten Apple, which he said resulted in more than 2,100 arrests. Those arrested, according to DHS, included individuals accused of murder, rape, child sexual abuse, and drug trafficking.
Among those arrested was a Ukrainian national with convictions for kidnapping, abduction resulting in death, criminal possession of a weapon, and murder. DHS said another suspect, from Colombia, had previously been arrested for conduct involving sexual abuse of a child.
Mullin described President Trump as personally engaged in finding legal mechanisms to apply financial pressure to non-cooperating cities. "President Trump is looking for ways. He had other people that were in the Oval Office with me talking about how can we hold federal funding from these sanctuary cities that are refusing to just simply do one thing: uphold the law of the land," Mullin said.
He pushed back on the criticism his agency has received from local officials in sanctuary jurisdictions. "I enforce the laws that Congress passed. But Congress and these other liberal politicians, these sanctuary cities and sanctuary states are the ones that are griping the loudest about the work that my [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents are doing every day," he added.
DHS has carried out multiple large-scale deportation operations since President Trump began his second term. The Rotten Apple operation in New York is among the most recent and, by arrest count, one of the largest. The administration has not announced a timeline for any formal policy changes regarding the withholding of federal funds.
