President Donald Trump Poised to Sign an Executive Order Cracking Down on Sanctuary Cities for Immigrants—Like Portland

In November, Ted Wheeler said Portland would not be cowed by Trump's threats.

Women's March on Portland, Jan. 21, 2017. (Joe Riedl)
By Aaron Mesh

President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order Wednesday that would crack down on cities like Portland that refuse to hold undocumented immigrants for deportation, according to The Washington Post and the Associated Press.

Details of Trump's executive order to crack down on "sanctuary cities" remain scarce.

But the AP is reporting that it could involve withholding federal funds from cities that resist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's request to local law-enforcement to hold undocumented people in jail after an arrest so that feds can deport them.

That's exactly what Trump pledged to do on the campaign trail. He didn't offer specifics then, either.

The executive order puts Trump on a collision course with the city of Portland.

In November, then-Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler declared that Portland would continue to serve as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants threatened with deportation.

"We will always see ourselves as a sanctuary city, and we will continue to be welcoming to everyone," Wheeler said then. "These are our values."

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