Sanctuary city mayors like Brandon Johnson in Chicago are beginning to feel the squeeze from the federal government, as they continue to refuse to cooperate with ICE in arresting criminal illegal aliens.

And people like Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, by publicizing his eagerness to cooperate with ICE, is making it even harder for the sanctuary mayors to hold out:

Nassau County police will be granted federal authority to help arrest and deport illegal criminal migrants under an agreement with the Trump administration, officials announced Tuesday.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman jumped at the chance to have his police department participate in the program when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached out and sought cooperation to arrest and deport illegal aliens committing crimes.

‘We don’t want illegal immigrants roaming around our community committing crimes. We don’t want them in our community,’ Blakeman told The Post.

‘Our detectives will arrest illegal immigrants engaged in criminal activity. We want to make sure these people are locked up and deported.’

Nassau County will receive federal funding for assisting ICE, and has also agreed to detain a suspected illegal immigrant for up to 72 hours.

ICE has expressed its satisfaction with Nassau County’s cooperation:

During a press conference later Tuesday, Bryan Flanagan, acting deputy field office director for ICE, thanked Nassau for the partnership to bolster public safety.
‘By providing 72-hour bed space, Nassau County will enable ICE to house the transfer of potentially dangerous alien offenders in a safe and secure environment, thus providing security to our officers, the detainees and the public at large. Protecting public safety remains at the heart of everything we do as law enforcement officers,’ Flanagan said.

The threats to the wider population by illegal migrants are many.

With the removal of these criminals, the people in the neighborhoods will be able to breathe easier and traverse their streets with less fear of violence. The drain on resources to fund these illegals is also causing budgeting problems where they are protected.

That’s why the resistance of people like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is so counterproductive and detrimental to his voters. Instead of choosing to protect citizens from criminal illegal migrants, he’s sided with the criminals. Any effort for him to distract people with the truth—that at this time only criminals are being targeted—would require him to deal with reality. For this blue mayor, that is one step too far.

But there are plenty of other people who insist on protecting criminal migrants in order to appease the fears of the non-criminal illegal migrants:

Federal authorities said their priority is arresting criminals but protesters feared longtime residents with jobs and families will be swept up.
‘A lot of people are worried,’ Garcia said. ‘I feel they don’t really honestly care if you have papers, in a way. As long as you’re Mexican they don’t want you here.’

Tom Homan, border czar, has weighed in about the status of illegal migrants who aren’t criminal:

About 5,000 arrests were made in the first week, with the majority being criminals, Homan said.
He added ‘noncriminals are (being) arrested in sanctuary cities because you force us into the community rather than arresting the bad guy in jail. And, when we find that criminal, he’s most likely with others, and they’re going to go, too.

‘If you want to be a sanctuary city, you’re going to get exactly what you don’t want — more agents in the city and more noncriminals arrested,’ Homan said.

But Leftist groups feel compelled to show compassion for the illegal migrants.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has begun to understand the importance of cooperating with ICE, following his original hardline position of protecting illegal migrants. He has agreed to cooperate with ICE, and fiscal issues may have finally convinced him:

The city's evolving immigration situation has forced significant budget adjustments. Johnston implemented substantial cuts, including an $8.4 million reduction from the police department and $2.5 million from fire services, to accommodate migrant services. The Common Sense Institute estimates that Denver taxpayers and local organizations have invested approximately $340 million in providing essential services to migrants. 

Reality is finally breaking through the mentality of these blue mayors, and Republican Bruce Blakeman is setting a new and practical standard. The blue mayors’ communities are subject to gangs and violence if they have criminal illegal aliens; cooperating with ICE helps the cities tackle the crime problem. The cities are not responsible for the feelings of the law-abiding illegal aliens (do you see the contradiction in that statement?); if they are afraid that they might be swept up in a raid, reassuring them should not be a concern for the cities. And the fiscal costs to their communities are significant and it’s irresponsible for them to tolerate them.

The priority needs to be the safety of their citizens, not the feelings of illegal migrants.

Let’s hope most of them, like Bruce Blakeman of Nassau County, realize that the rule of law matters.

(Shortly after being sworn in as our new U.S. Attorney General on Wednesday, Pam Bondi directed the Justice Department to pause all federal funding for sanctuary cities. We’ll watch to see which mayors ignore her, acquiesce or sue the DOJ.)
 

Image: Wikimedia Commons // public domain