PULLMAN (WBBM Newsradio) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson said he expects the courts will block President Trump's latest effort to keep federal money from Chicago and other so-called sanctuary cities.
"He can't do that," the mayor said Wednesday of the President's latest pledge to cut off federal money starting February 1 for cities and states with so-called welcoming policies for immigrant communities.
The mayor addressed the President's statement during a roundtable discussion on violence prevention efforts at the Chicago Police Department Calumet District station, 727 E. 111th St, saying the city has already gone to court to fight numerous other attempts to claw back federal funding for everything from public health to transportation, and expects to do the same in this case.
"I'm confident that as the courts have done before ... ruled that the President is working outside of the Constitution," the mayor said. "I'm not going to entertain his threat as a function he can actually do."
The Johnson Administration insists that rules preventing local police from helping federal immigration enforcement builds trust and helps reduces crime. That's disputed by the White House, with the President telling an audience in Detroit Tuesday that sanctuary policies "breed ... fraud and crime and everything else."
Federal border czar Tom Homan amplified that sentiment on Wednesday: "We're going to surge resources into sanctuary cities because that's where the problem is."
The mayor said he's counting on state lawmakers to help the city avoid harm from the President's actions.