Trump announces plan to release detained migrants into sanctuary cities

President Donald Trump announced Monday that detained migrants will be released into sanctuary cities, ramping up his ongoing attempts to put pressure on lawmakers to pass conservative reforms and stem the flow of migrants entering the United States illegally.

Trump’s announcement comes just several days after the White House dismissed reports that he was considering releasing migrants into cities that will not cooperate with federal government in policing undocumented immigration. 

Read more: US mayors call Trump’s bluff on sending detained migrants to sanctuary cities

"Those Illegal Immigrants who can no longer be legally held (Congress must fix the laws and loopholes) will be, subject to Homeland Security, given to Sanctuary Cities and States!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

Just last week, when initial reports about Trump’s proposal began to surface, the White House press office tried to tamp down on the idea being in any way realistic.

"The idea was briefly and informally raised and quickly rejected," read a statement from the White House. "No one at ICE was pressured by anyone at any time."

The following day, Trump directly contradicted the White House press team, writing on Twitter that he was giving serious consideration to the new policy.

"Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only," he wrote on Twitter. "The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy — so this should make them very happy!"

Mayors of various cities across the United States dismissed the proposal as a "scare tactic" but reaffirmed their commitment to keeping their sanctuary policies.

"Like so many issues we are forced to talk about during this presidency, this isn’t a real idea or a real proposal, it’s just another scare tactic," said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. "Yes, immigration is an important issue and we need legislative reform, but that’s not what this President is talking about."