Woke city official claims ICE arrests are making America less safe because migrants don’t
The City Attorney for San Francisco has claimed that the arrests of migrants by ICE officials are making cities ‘less safe’.
David Chiu had been speaking with CNN on Wednesday when he made the remark after announcing a lawsuit against President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
He told the outlet: ‘Studies have consistently shown that immigrants commit less crimes, that sanctuary jurisdictions have seen no increase or lower crime rates.
‘Now, unfortunately, the Trump Administration has spread lies about the suggestion that our cities are harboring criminals. That is false.’
He also defended sanctuary city policies that had been enacted across the country, saying they actually make America safer.
Chiu continued: ‘When communities trust law enforcement, victims and witnesses of crime come forward, arrests are made, criminals are taken off the streets.
‘When the opposite happens, trust is eroded. People are fearful to report. We are all less safe.’
President Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to start making arrests in sanctuary cities including Denver and New York City since his inauguration.
David Chiu had been speaking with CNN on Wednesday when he made the remark after announcing a lawsuit against President Trump’s immigration crackdown
Migrants deplane a U.S. military aircraft after it landed in Guatemala on January 24, 2025
ICE officers in San Francisco are seen here arresting Juan Velasquez-Francisco, a Guatemalan citizen
Chiu said the new administration has been actively doubling down on their attempts to cut funding from such cities.
In his suit filed last Friday, Chiu cites Trump’s executive order which directed federal funds to be withhold from cities that refuse his immigration agenda.
The suit alleges that the administration has threatened and unlawfully targeted sanctuary cities.
Chiu was joined by the cities of Portland, Oregon, and New Haven, Connecticut, in filing the suit, as well as Santa Clara county in California.
Plaintiffs in the suit say they seek to ‘check this abuse of power’ and ask the courts to declare Trump’s actions as unlawful.
The lawsuit states: ‘President Trump seeks once again to punish those who disagree with him, coerce local authorities, and commandeer them into carrying out his agenda.’
In announcing the suit, Chiu said: ‘This is the federal government coercing local officials to bend to their will or face defunding or prosecution. That is illegal and authoritarian.’
The lawsuit came a day after the Department of Justice sued the state of Illinois and city of Chicago.
The suit alleges that the administration has threatened and unlawfully targeted sanctuary cities
Their suit alleged the Democratic strongholds were unlawfully interfering with Trump’s crackdown and seeking a court order blocking so-called sanctuary laws.
Earlier this week, the DOJ also announced they were suing New York, its Governor Kathy Hochul and other leaders as part of the immigration crackdown.
Newly sworn-in Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit at her first press conference at the Justice Department.
‘This is a new DOJ and we are taking steps to protect Americans,’ Bondi declared at her press conference.
She accused New York of prioritizing illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens, stating ‘it stops today.’
White House ‘border czar’ Tom Homan speak to the press outside the White House in Washington
Hochul fired back late Wednesday calling it a ‘worthless, publicity-driven lawsuit’ and vowed the state would not back down.
Meanwhile, border czar Tom Homan has said that he is deeply unsatisfied with the rate at which ICE agents are able to arrest illegal migrants residing in the U.S.
When posed the question of whether Trump is happy with the pace of ICE enforcement on Tuesday, Homan shot back ‘I’m not.’
While the daily arrests this year have surpassed the average daily apprehensions last year, Homan claimed there are ‘hundreds of thousands’ of criminal undocumented immigrants that need to be arrested.
‘Sanctuary cities are putting roadblocks up, we got leaks,’ the border czar claimed, noting how some ICE operations have been foiled due to intelligence leaks.
‘So, we need to increase the arrests of illegal aliens, especially those with criminal convictions. So, we’re going to continue. So, three times higher is good. The numbers are good. For me, not good enough. We’ve got to get more.’