After reports surfaced that the idea was brought up twice and shot down by attorneys from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), President Trump tweeted on Friday that his administration is "indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only," adding "The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!"

On Friday, the Washington Post and ABC News reported that the Trump administration had twiced pushed for transferring migrants to sanctuary cities, citing anonymous senior government officials familiar with the matter.