In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan, House Democrats slammed President Trump’s supposed proposal to dump detained immigrants in sanctuary cities and requested documents related to said plans.
Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) called the move a “bizarre and unlawful” attempt to “score political points” and requested emails and other communications about the proposal, which was reportedly rejected by ICE officials twice as “inappropriate.”
“These reports are alarming,” they wrote, referencing reports that the Trump wanted to relocate those detained after illegally crossing the border to punish Democrats who didn’t support his funding requests. “Not only does the administration lack the legal authority to transfer detainees in this manner, it is shocking that the President and senior administration officials are even considering manipulating decisions for purely political reasons.”
The White House initially shrugged off reports of the plan, which was characterized as a one-off proposal that was rejected. But Trump confirmed last week that he was indeed still interested in the idea.
Read the letter below:
