(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says rounding up immigrants and shipping them to sanctuary cities is “disrespectful” to the nation’s challenges.
The California Democrat was asked Friday for her thoughts on reports that the White House had considered sending immigrants to places like New York and Pelosi’s San Francisco that don’t cooperate with federal immigration officials. Pelosi says the idea is “just another notion that is unworthy of the president of the United States and disrespectful of the challenges we face.”
Three people familiar with the idea said Friday that the White House considered a plan to release detained immigrants into sanctuary cities, a plan that critics branded as an effort to use migrants as pawns to go after political opponents. The people say Department of Homeland Security lawyers quickly rejected the proposal and it was dropped.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Matt Albence denies the White House pressured immigration officials to implement the idea.
