Trump Floats Sanctuary City Reform as Possible Condition For Relief Funds to States

President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that federal pandemic relief to states could be conditioned on their sanctuary city policies.

In remarks during an April 28 meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump listed a few possible caveats for federal funds to help states fighting COVID-19, the disease caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus.

“Wed have to talk about things like payroll tax cuts. Wed have to talk about things like sanctuary cities, as an example,” Trump added.

Trump also said a distinction should be drawn between states with funding shortfalls due to outbreak versus due to poor fiscal management.

“I think theres a big difference with a state that lost money because of COVID and a state thats been run very badly for 25 years. Theres a big difference, in my opinion,” he said.

Trump expanded on the theme at a meeting with business leaders, saying he wanted to include “sanctuary city adjustments” when distributing federal aid.

“The problem with the states is were not looking to recover 25 years of bad management and give them the money that they lost. Its unfair to other states,” Trump said.

“Now if its COVID-related, I guess we could talk about it. But wed want certain things also, including sanctuary city adjustments, because we have so many people in sanctuary cities, which I dont even think are popular even by radical left folks, because whats happening is people are being protected that shouldnt be protected,” he said.

“A lot of bad things are happening with sanctuary cities,” Trump added, possibly referring to issues like reports of city authorities refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities or providing services to illegal aliens.

Trumps remarks came as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned that state and local governments will see “massive” layoffs due to the pandemic if Congress doesnt provide them with federal aid.

“Theres going to be massive layoffs at the state and local level unless we get money to them quickly,” Schumer told MSNBC in an interview on April 28.

The lawmaker also pushed back against conditions for federal aid outlined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in remaRead More From Source
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The Epoch Times

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