As we noted previously, Trump made it clear that he plans to make good on his campaign pledge to block federal funding to states and cities where local law enforcement refuse to report undocumented immigrants they encounter to federal authorities, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.
"The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws,” Spicer said.
Spicer said an executive order signed by Trump on Wednesday directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to look at federal funding to cities to figure out "how we can defund those streams."
And tonight, as The Hill reports, the first so-called 'Sanctuary City' mayor decided to comply with President Trump's executive orders...
The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Fla., on Thursday ordered his local jails to comply.
“In light of the provisions of the Executive Order, I direct you and your staff to honor all immigration detainer requests received from the Department of Homeland Security,” Mayor Carlos Gimenezwrote in a memo to the interim head of the corrections and rehabilitation department, as reported by the Miami Herald.
“Miami-Dade County complies with federal law and intends to fully cooperate with the federal government,” Gimenez wrote.
“I will partner with the Board of County Commissioners to address any issues necessary to achieve this end,” the mayor added.
Of course, there is another reason why the Miami-Dade mayor chose to be so patriotic and follow President Trump's commands... his county does not even make it into the Top 10 for Obama's legacy federal funding for Sanctuary status...
Nevertheless, while the executiuve order may end up costing Miami-Dade millions of dollars, President Trump tweeted about the decision Thursday night, calling it "strong" and the "right decision."
Miami-Dade Mayor drops sanctuary policy. Right decision. Strong! https://t.co/MtPvaDC4jM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017
"From here on out, I'm asking all of you to enforce the laws of the United States of America. They will be enforced and enforced strongly," Trump said during his visit to DHS.
“Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders,” he added.
As The Miami Herald reports, Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, denounced Gimenez’s action, saying that it:
“flies in the face of Miami’s long history as a city of immigrants” and predicting it will “drive a wedge of distrust between law enforcement and our immigrant community.”
“At the very least, a warrant from a court, not merely a request from a federal official, is required to detain somebody in jail,” Simon said.
“We will resist every attempt by our government to punish immigrants, regardless of their status.”