Trump escalates immigration crackdown to mark 100 days
United States military personnel install concertina wire on top of the wall along the US-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana near the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, California on April 23, 2025. — Photo by Agence France-Presse
The White House announced Monday a crackdown on “sanctuary cities” that defy Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, as the president closes in on his first 100 days in office.
Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the administration would name and shame cities accused of blocking efforts to protect “American communities from criminal aliens.”
The Republican leader will sign an executive order later Monday directing officials to publish a list of “jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” she told reporters.
The announcement came with Trump celebrating major progress in honoring his election campaign promises to stem illegal border crossings from Mexico.
The figures soared to all-time highs under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, and the Republican won the White House in part on promises to combat what he repeatedly claimed was an invasion of criminal migrants.
But his popularity has since plunged, with more than 40 percent of Americans saying they “disapprove strongly” of him, according to a Washington Post-ABC opinion poll.
Trump suggested pollsters and news organizations should be sued for fraud over the “fake news.”
The president will this week be hailing his achievements in his first 100 days, claiming successes on the economy, foreign policy and government efficiency as well as on migration.
Leavitt noted a 95 percent drop in encounters of undocumented migrants at the Mexico border — from 140,000 to 7,000 — in the 12 months from March 2024, when Biden was still in office.
“America’s borders are now secure because of President Trump,” she said. “He has restored the rule of law, enforced our immigration laws and defended America’s sovereignty.”
Trump’s election campaign rhetoric about taking on the alleged hordes of rapists and murderers resonated with voters concerned about illegal immigration.
READ: Promises made, promises kept? Trump’s agenda still a work in progress after 100 days
Influx of migrants
As part of the drive to deliver on his pledges, Republicans in Congress are targeting “sanctuary cities,” which typically prohibit local officials from telling federal agents about undocumented immigrants if they are at risk of deportation.
Lawmakers hauled the mayors of four such cities — Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York — over the coals at a hearing in March.
And Republicans in the House of Representatives released a bill on Monday giving Trump powers to levy a host of onerous immigration charges — including a minimum $1,000 fee for asylum applications.
In a sign of the emphasis the administration is placing on immigration, placards lined the White House lawn, each displaying the mugshot of someone the administration called an “illegal alien.”
The word “arrested” was printed in capital letters above each photo and, below, the crime of which they were accused — from “first-degree murder” and “sexual abuse of a child” to “distribution of fentanyl.”
An accompanying White House press release included a list of 100 individuals that it said were the “worst of the worst criminal illegal immigrants” arrested since Trump took office.
Trump has also sent troops to the Mexican border, imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for allegedly not doing enough to stop illegal crossings, and designated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as terrorist groups.
But Trump has butted heads with judges, rights groups and Democrats who say he has ignored constitutional rights in rushing to deport migrants, sometimes without the right to a hearing.
Tom Homan, Trump’s point man on border security, told reporters Monday that “we have the most secure border in the history of this nation.”
He was asked about deportation rates, which have lagged behind Biden’s numbers, despite Trump’s promised campaign of the largest mass removal campaign in US history.
The government has not been releasing comprehensive data, but the Migration Policy Institute said it appeared on track to remove half a million people this year — fewer than the 685,000 deportations recorded in fiscal year 2024 under Biden.
Homan argued that comparisons were bogus, since Biden’s deportation numbers included people removed at the border, and most of those people were now being stopped before getting in.
