Trump Administration Planning to Put Up Billboards of Immigration Violators Ahead of Election

The Trump administration is considering putting up billboards of immigration violators, an unprecedented move in lockstep with the President’s law-and-order message ahead of the election, according to two sources familiar with the proposal.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly gone after so-called “sanctuary cities” — cities that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities — arguing that they put public safety at risk.

The billboards would be put up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security — in at least one city and would call attention to immigrants who have committed crimes and been released by local authorities. It’s unclear what the billboards will look like and at what cost. If the plan proceeds, it seems intended to single out sanctuary jurisdictions and stoke fear within those communities.

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At the start of his administration, Trump threatened to take federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions in an executive order. He also floated the possibility of releasing immigrants into sanctuary cities in part to retaliate against Democrats.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that ICE is also preparing targeted arrests in cities that have adopted “sanctuary” policies. {snip}

Many of the largest cities in the country have sanctuary policies in place. The leaders behind them argue that such policies make communities safer because undocumented immigrants are more likely to report crimes if they don’t fear deportation.

But ICE says that when immigrants with criminal convictions are released, it requires additional time and resources for the agency and “increases the occurrence of preventable crimes and preventable victims.”

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Over the summer, ICE arrested more than 2,000 immigrants over the course of several weeks as part of an operation targeting people with criminal histories.

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