MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges is taking a stand against president-elect Donald Trump.
According to The Hill, Trump, who will give his first interview to Leslie Stahl on CBS’s 60 Minutes, is expected to announce his plan to deport 2-3 million illegal immigrants with a criminal background.
Mayor Hodges has taken a personal stand against Trump stating that Minneapolis Police will not assist federal agencies in detaining illegal immigrants.
According to Judicial Watch “the policies defy guidelines created by the 9/11 Commission Report, which specifically calls on state and local authorities to help federal agencies crack down on illegal immigration.”
Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding for cities that hold the “sanctuary city” designation.
Trump’s mandate would force cities to drop the sanctuary city title and work together with federal agencies in detaining and prosecuting illegal immigrants.
But some, like Mayor Hodges, fear that working with federal agencies to combat illegal immigration would, in fact, hamper the effectiveness of community policing. Mayor Hodges echoed the sentiments in her statement, which was published by KSTP stating “If police officers were to do the work of ICE it would harm our ability to keep people safe and solve crimes. Witnesses and victims of crimes won’t come forward if they think our police officers will question or detain them about their immigration status. Our ordinance has helped us solve crime and keep communities safer. If our police were doing the work of ICE, Minneapolis would be less safe for everyone, regardless of immigration status.”
Politifact determines that it is impossible to know whether sanctuary cities are safer than non-sanctuary cities. The Washington Post, through their own research shows that while non-sanctuary cities have lower crime than sanctuary cities, the margin of error shows no real significance in the difference. The Post also notes that cities like San Francisco have seen an uptick in crime after adopting the sanctuary city title.
If Mayor Hodges stands firm in the face of president-elect Trump’s plan to cancel sanctuary cities funding, Minneapolis could stand to lose millions of dollars.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
