OPINION:
If President Trump’s actions in his first six months back in the White House have triggered his critics inside the Beltway, his latest action to federalize the District of Columbia’s police force has them hyperventilating.
Although framed in the media as nothing short of a totalitarian power grab, the move is a justified reaction to a local government focused more on catering to illegal aliens than keeping its legal residents safe.
Under Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council, the city has embraced its status as a sanctuary city, a designation codified during Mr. Trump’s first term through the 2020 Sanctuary Values Amendment Act. The law explicitly limits cooperation between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prohibiting city agencies and the D.C. Department of Corrections from detaining illegal aliens for ICE without a judicial warrant.
The policy also prevents local police from sharing information about an individual’s immigration status or releasing them to federal authorities absent a court order. Ms. Bowser, long a vocal sanctuary champion, quietly proposed repealing the law in her 2026 budget, likely as a strategic retreat to avoid federal backlash. However, a council committee removed the provision in June, effectively killing it.
The city’s refusal to cooperate with ICE has real consequences. By shielding criminal illegal aliens from deportation, the D.C. government is allowing dangerous people to remain in communities, undermining public safety.
Recent data suggesting that crime has significantly dropped in the District, the popular talking point against Mr. Trump’s federalization, comes with an asterisk. First, it has come down from ridiculous spikes. Homicides rose 63% from 2019 to 2023, and carjackings shot up 94% in roughly the same period. Second, a city police commander is under investigation for allegedly changing crime statistics in his district to minimize serious crime.
D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton, who supports Mr. Trump’s move, said it was “preposterous to suggest that cumulatively we’ve seen 60-plus percent drops in violent crime from where we were in ’23, because we’re out on the street. We know the calls we’re responding to.” Year-to-year data aside, the city’s refusal to prioritize the removal of criminal illegal aliens is indefensible.
Compounding this failure, the city council in 2022 passed the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act, granting noncitizens the right to vote in local elections, including for mayor, council and ballot measures. “What’s the harm in that?” critics say. Permitting noncitizens to vote dilutes the power of citizens’ votes. It allows our leaders and laws to be decided by those with little to no understanding of our unique commitments to personal liberties and protections against government overreach.
The D.C. leadership is not alone in this folly. Across the country, sanctuary city mayors in places such as Chicago, New York and Denver have similarly abandoned their duty to protect residents. During a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in March, mayors from these cities defended their sanctuary policies, claiming they foster trust with immigrant communities. Yet as Rep. Nancy Mace pointedly stated, these policies often leave “blood on their hands” when criminal illegal aliens, shielded from deportation, harm citizens.
Sanctuary cities also strain public resources, bringing already stressed budgets to the edge of insolvency. The D.C. budget, slashed by $400 million in March because of congressional oversight, faces further pressure from policies that attract illegal aliens seeking services while contributing little to the tax base. New York City has spent billions of dollars on illegal aliens in the past few years and diverted funds from schools and public safety. These cities are gambling with their fiscal stability, prioritizing ideological posturing over responsible governance.
Ms. Bowser and the D.C. Council must realign their priorities. Repealing the sanctuary law entirely, not just as a political maneuver, would be a start. Cooperating fully with ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens would restore trust in law enforcement. Abandoning noncitizen voting would reaffirm the city’s commitment to its citizens. Until these steps are taken, Mr. Trump’s federalization of the police is justified and is a lifeline for a city drowning in its own missteps.
Other sanctuary mayors should also take note. From Boston to Los Angeles, the pattern is the same: Policies that prioritize illegal aliens over citizens erode public safety and fiscal stability. The federal government’s crackdown, including threats to withhold grants from noncompliant jurisdictions, is a wake-up call. Cities cannot continue to harbor criminals under the guise of compassion while expecting federal support.
D.C. residents deserve a government that puts their safety first, not one that sacrifices it on the altar of ideology. Mr. Trump’s move is responsible leadership; sanctuary mayors should start practicing the same.
• Dale L. Wilcox is executive director and general counsel at the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington.
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