America’s ongoing immigration crisis has exposed a deeper threat: the steady erosion of the rule of law. According to the Department of Homeland Security, over 560 jurisdictions now operate as sanctuary cities. These policies don’t merely ignore federal authority—they weaken law enforcement, embolden criminal behavior, and leave everyday Americans to bear the consequences.
Many of these jurisdictions assume they’re beyond federal reach. But a powerful remedy already exists—and President Trump has proven it works. When Columbia University refused to meaningfully address rising antisemitism, the Trump administration responded by freezing the school’s federal funding. The result? Compliance. That same playbook can be used to dismantle sanctuary policies city by city.
What the country needs now is a Trump-style reset—one rooted in fiscal accountability and legal pressure to restore order and uphold federal law.
Sanctuary policies don’t just sidestep immigration enforcement; they also impose enormous burdens on American taxpayers, who are forced to fund housing, food, and services for individuals residing in the country unlawfully. The consequences ripple outward: rising crime, civil unrest, and streets overwhelmed by chaos. This top-down defiance—spread through left-leaning cities, states, and institutions—celebrates lawlessness at the expense of public safety.
As both an attorney and a legal immigrant who believes deeply in the promise of America and the laws that protect it, I find this trend deeply alarming. Consider this: between June 2023 and July 2024, the New York City Department of Correction complied with only 4% of ICE detainer requests. That means thousands of individuals flagged for deportation—many for violent crimes—were released. Two of them went on to murder an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer.
The situation in California is no better. Since 2022, the state has ignored more than 13,000 ICE detainer requests, including 72 related to homicide charges. When violent demonstrations broke out in Los Angeles in 2025, necessitating the deployment of the National Guard, it became clear that what we’re witnessing isn’t accidental—it’s orchestrated chaos.
When local leaders refuse to enforce immigration law, the message is unmistakable: public safety takes a back seat. Their rhetoric paints these policies as moral and humanitarian, but who is protecting the law-abiding citizens, business owners, and victims of crime? We must begin asking: who truly benefits from these so-called sanctuary policies?
The United States is founded on the rule of law, not on selective compliance. The growing sanctuary movement—where ideology trumps enforcement—puts our national cohesion at risk. If these jurisdictions can flout immigration law today, what’s to stop them from disregarding civil rights protections, environmental regulations, or national security mandates tomorrow?
Thankfully, we’ve already seen what works.
In 2025, President Trump’s administration held Columbia University accountable after the institution accepted hundreds of millions in federal funds while failing to address antisemitic incidents—a violation of Title VI. When the university refused to act, the administration froze $400 million in federal funding. Columbia swiftly agreed to pay a $221 million settlement, overhaul its policies, and comply with the law. That is how you confront institutions that think they’re above accountability.
This same approach should be applied to sanctuary cities.
First: cut off their funding. In January 2017, President Trump issued an executive order allowing the federal government to withhold Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security grants from jurisdictions with sanctuary policies. The result was immediate: in 2018, California lost $200 million in federal support and quickly began to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
President Trump should expand this strategy—revoking DOJ grants, slashing FEMA aid, freezing HUD money, and targeting Community Development Block Grants. Even if broad defunding efforts are tied up in court, agencies can still condition grants on compliance and redirect funds to cities that follow the law.
As Mark Levin rightly noted, immigration policy is meant to serve American citizens—not undermine their safety.
Next: take sanctuary cities to court under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. Trump’s Department of Justice already sued California in 2018 over Senate Bill 54, forcing the state to scale back its protections for undocumented immigrants. In July 2025, the administration launched a new Supremacy Clause lawsuit against New York City, with similar cases now underway in Los Angeles, Chicago, and municipalities across Illinois and New Jersey. These lawsuits must go further—seeking injunctions, civil penalties, and even criminal referrals for officials who obstruct federal law.
Americans deserve leaders who prioritize citizens, defend the innocent, and hold lawbreakers accountable. Our laws are not optional, and without them, our nation cannot endure.
Across the country, America First cities are rising. It’s time to show sanctuary jurisdictions that defiance has consequences. By cutting funding and launching legal action, President Trump can protect our citizens—and send a lasting message that no city is above the law.
