The American experiment was founded upon a system of laws that all must follow — laws intended to restrain power, protect liberty, and ensure that no individual stands above the rules that govern the nation. From its earliest days, the republic has depended not on the will of kings or crowds, but on a shared commitment to constitutional order, equal justice, and accountability under the law. This principle has been the bedrock of American stability.
This system begins to fracture when citizens — and most dangerously, elected officials — convince themselves that disagreement confers exemption, that laws may be obeyed selectively and ignored at will. This is precisely the logic embraced by blue-state governors and mayors who proclaim certain state and local jurisdictions as sanctuary territories.
The insistence by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on flouting federal immigration law is directly responsible for the current mayhem gripping the state. Cloaking their actions in professed concern for the welfare and supposed “rights” of their “neighbors,” they have effectively declared Minnesota — and Minneapolis in particular — off-limits to ICE and Border Patrol agents.
In effect, they are attempting to exempt themselves and their constituents from federal law. That is the very definition of a confederacy. And just as the original Democrat-led Confederacy resisted federal authority in order to preserve slavery, today’s Democrats are resisting federal authority to shield illegal aliens from law enforcement. Both efforts represent open defiance of the law—and both are reprehensible.
In a Sunday evening Truth Social post, President Donald Trump wrote that he was “calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities.” He asked for Walz, Frey, and all Democratic mayors and governors “to formally cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is currently working on legislation to do just that.
On Tuesday night, Graham discussed his proposed bill with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. He said:
Tom Homan going to Minnesota is good to turn down the temperature. But you know what is unreasonable? Having sanctuary city policies in 12 states that entice people to come to our country, to avoid enforcing federal law, to increase crime, to incentivize fraud.He’s going to be reasonable, but what Donald Trump is not going to do is avoid dealing with sanctuary city policy. I talked to him just a few minutes ago. President Trump is working with me and others to introduce a bill to go to the floor of the United States Senate to end sanctuary city policy forever….We’re going to be reasonable in Minnesota, but we are not going to give up on the idea of fixing the source of the problem, which is sanctuary city crazy laws in 12 states.
[The full segment can be viewed here.]
As the commenter below states, ending sanctuary policies is about restoring the rule of law in the U.S.
The chaos needs to end. Democrats are on the wrong side of this argument, yet they continue to act like the aggrieved party. Even after what Trump described as “good” conversations with Walz and Frey, both Democrats doubled down on their refusal to enforce federal immigration laws.
Following a phone call with Trump and a meeting with Border Czar Tom Homan on Tuesday, Frey released a statement declaring, in part: “I also made it clear that Minneapolis does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws, and that we will remain focused on keeping our neighbors and streets safe.”
Walz struck a similarly defiant tone. In an interview with The Bulwark’s Tim Miller, he played the tough guy, portraying his call with Trump as a “victory” and suggesting — implausibly — that his strong-arm tactics had forced the president to back down.
Walz also aimed a verbal broadside at Vice President J.D. Vance, who trounced him in their October 2024 debate. He boasted to Miller, “I would beat the sh** out of him now if I could.”
Congress must act now to abolish sanctuary cities. They have no place in a democratic republic.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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