President Donald Trump has announced that he will not rule out defunding the state of California if it declares statewide sanctuary status for illegal immigrants.
This comes in response to California’s Senate Public Safety Committee voting to approve a measure that would do just that. The measure now moves to the California Senate’s appropriations committee, and it could soon find itself before the body at large.
Trump was asked about his thoughts on the bill during an interview with Bill O’Reilly before the Super Bowl Sunday night.
“I think it’s ridiculous – sanctuary cities. As you know I’m very much opposed to sanctuary cities. They breed crime. There’s a lot of problems,” Trump said.
“If we have to we’ll defund. We give tremendous amounts of money to California. California in many ways is out of control. Obviously the voters agree. Otherwise they wouldn’t have voted for me,” the president added.
This interview came just days after an executive order saying that the President would employ “all lawful means” to enforce the United States’ current immigration laws in sanctuary cities, which could include withdrawing federal funds. California currently receives over $1 billion each year from the federal government.
