Trump Considers Pulling ICE Agents from California

On Thursday (Feb 22), President Donald Trump accused the state of California of doing a lackluster job expelling undocumented immigrants in the country, so much so that he is considering pulling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from the state.

During a listening session on school safety and gun violence at the White House in the wake of the Douglas school shooting, Trump bashed California for its “sanctuary cities” policies, claiming the MS-13 gang poses a threat to the youth and have set up “franchises” in Los Angeles.

While lashing out at the threat of gangs in the country, Trump stated he is receiving “no help” from California officials to tackle the problem, and he would let the state deal with the issue themselves.

“Frankly, if I wanted to pull our people from California, you would have a crime nest like you’ve never seen in California,” Trump said.” All I’d have to do is say ‘ICE, Border Patrol, leave California alone.”

He went on to say the state is doing a “lousy management job” on policing illegal immigration and “they have no idea what’s happening out there.” Trump closed his remarks by suggesting that state would be pleading for his help if he were to pull federal enforcement.

“If we ever pulled our ICE out, and we ever said, ‘Hey, let California alone, let them figure it out for themselves,’ in two months they’d be begging for us to come back. They would be begging.” Trump said. “And you know what, I’m thinking about doing it.”