--- title: White House Urged Busing Migrants to Sanctuary Cities: Report description: Trump administration officials reportedly pushed ICE to release migrants in sanctuary cities as a form of political retribution canonical: https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/ author: Amy Gunia article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-12T05:56:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:51.333Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Urged Busing Migrants to Sanctuary Cities: Report og:description: Immigrations and Customs Enforcement dismissed the idea as inappropriate og:url: https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe7a969f80ae1df/69894820457a5296abd60d83/release-migrants-sanctuary-cities.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Release Migrants Sanctuary Cities og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Urged Busing Migrants to Sanctuary Cities: Report twitter:description: Immigrations and Customs Enforcement dismissed the idea as inappropriate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe7a969f80ae1df/69894820457a5296abd60d83/release-migrants-sanctuary-cities.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Officials Considered Transporting Migrants to 'Sanctuary Cities' as Political Retribution, Report Says ## Video: President Trump Warns of 'Actual Emergency' During Border Visit [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Warns of 'Actual Emergency' During Border Visit](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NTcU7vL0.m3u8) (0:45)  _Published 2019-04-05. President Donald Trump says his administration is ensuring the country knows “this is an actual emergency” at the U.S.-Mexico border._ by [Amy Gunia](https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Apr 12, 2019 5:56 AM UTC  Members of a migrant caravan walk into the interior of Mexico after crossing the Guatemalan border near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on Oct. 21, 2018. Members of a migrant caravan walk into the interior of Mexico after crossing the Guatemalan border near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on Oct. 21, 2018.John Moore—Getty Images by [Amy Gunia](https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Apr 12, 2019 5:56 AM UTC White House officials urged immigration authorities to [release migrant detainees](https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/white-house-proposed-releasing-immigrant-detainees-in-sanctuary-cities-targeting-political-foes/2019/04/11/72839bc8-5c68-11e9-9625-01d48d50ef75%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.9263f2ba2021) from the southern border into so-called sanctuary cities as retaliation against the administration’s political opponents, the Washington _Post_ reported Thursday. Members of the Trump administration proposed busing migrants to the [cities](http://time.com/4753002/sanctuary-cities-federal-grants-spending/), which are dubbed sanctuaries because local authorities there have refused to assist with the deportation of undocumented immigrants, according to the _Post_. The move was proposed in November 2018 as a [caravan of Central American migrants](http://time.com/longform/migrant-caravan-mexico/) advanced, and then again this past February as politicians feuded over [funding for Trump’s border wall](http://time.com/5530426/donald-trump-emergency-order-border/), emails reviewed by the _Post_ and interviews with the Department of Homeland Security revealed. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement dismissed the idea as inappropriate. A statement by the Department of Homeland Security appears to corroborate the _Post’s_ report. “This was just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion,” DHS said in the statement, according to the _Post_. **Read More:** [_Trump Vowed to Slow Border Crossings. Now They’ve Hit a 12-Year High_](http://time.com/5566997/trump-border-crossings-immigration/) According to DHS officials, Speaker of the House [Nancy Pelosi’](http://time.com/5494093/nancy-pelosi-donald-trump-snark/)s district in San Francisco was one of the proposed release areas, as were other Democrat-controlled districts. The White House reportedly told ICE that the transfer would provide a solution for the lack of detention space, while also sending a message to Democrats. Democrats have condemned the reported proposal. “The extent of this administration’s cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated,” Ashley Etienne, a spokesperson for Pelosi, said. “Using human beings — including little children — as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/"},"headline":"Trump Officials Considered Transporting Migrants to 'Sanctuary Cities' as Political Retribution, Report Says","datePublished":"2019-04-12T05:56:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:51.333Z","description":"Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district was reportedly discussed as migrant release location","url":"https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/","keywords":["Immigration","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe7a969f80ae1df/69894820457a5296abd60d83/release-migrants-sanctuary-cities.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amy Gunia","jobTitle":"Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong.","url":"https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe7a969f80ae1df/69894820457a5296abd60d83/release-migrants-sanctuary-cities.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Release Migrants Sanctuary Cities","caption":"Release Migrants Sanctuary Cities","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/","name":"Trump Officials Considered Transporting Migrants to 'Sanctuary Cities' as Political Retribution, Report Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Warns of 'Actual Emergency' During Border Visit","description":"President Donald Trump says his administration is ensuring the country knows “this is an actual emergency” at the U.S.-Mexico border.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NTcU7vL0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-04-05T21:30:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NTcU7vL0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/","duration":"PT45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5569228/trump-release-migrants-sanctuary-cities/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```