States that have sanctuary cities protecting illegal aliens and their dangerous criminal element as of February 1 will no longer receive any form of federal funding, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday during an address at the Detroit Economic Club.
The U.S. simply can’t afford to subsidize the millions of illegal aliens currently in the U.S. – especially since many of them are a threat to American citizens, Trump warned:
“Many of those people are murderers. They’re people released from jails, prisons, mental institutions, insane asylums. They’re people that are drug dealers, they’re addicts.”
If states and cities continue to protect people who break U.S. immigration laws, they’ll have to do so without the help of federal funding, Pres. Trump said:
"Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens."
While some illegal alien sanctuaries, such as California, simply refuse to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, others are now going so far as to sue the administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
On Monday, the State of Minnesota and cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul announced they have sued DHS in a bid to halt U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) “Operation Metro Surge” surge into Minnesota, claiming they have been “targeted” for their pro-illegal immigration policies – and citing Pres. Trump’s previous threats to cut off federal funding:
“Operation Metro Surge instead fits the Trump Administration’s pattern of targeting Democratic municipalities, including Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, and Washington-DC. Furthermore, the Trump Administration has made a habit of repeatedly and unlawfully attacking the state of Minnesota, both verbally and by attempting to illegally cut federal funding for programs the people of Minnesota rely on.”
The State of Illinois and Chicago also filed a lawsuit against DHS and the Trump Administration on Monday, seeking to end federal enforcement of federal immigration law in the state and city.
As CBS News Chicago reports:
“The lawsuit asks the court to enjoin CBP from conducting civil immigration enforcement in Illinois, declare the Trump administration and DHS in violation of the Tenth Amendment, and enjoin all defendants from using the tactics and methods the state claims are illegal. It also asks the court to award reasonable fees, costs and expenses, including attorney's fees.”
The U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause subordinates all state and local laws to U.S. federal law.
.@POTUS: "Starting February 1st, we're not making any payments to Sanctuary Cities or states having Sanctuary Cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American Citizens, and it breeds fraud and crime." pic.twitter.com/ixh5XEtyBt
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 13, 2026
