Yesterday, Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions were threatening American cities with the loss of federal funding for local police departments unless they agreed to turn their officers into agents of Donald Trump's Deportation Force. This provoked different responses from Democrats: Nevada State Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford (D-Las Vegas) pulled a bill which would've protected Nevada's immigrant families. Ford told the Nevada Independent he thought it was "unwise" to challenge Donald Trump on immigration because it might "provoke" our temperamental President and cause Nevada police departments to lose federal funding.
Thankfully Aaron Ford is not representative of most Democrats. Yesterday Democratic office holders from across the country met in New York City and vowed to become Trump's worst enemy. New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito described the group's work to Politico
"Not only is there power in our numbers and in union in our cities, but as municipalities we have the power to secure a number of tools to expand the protection we offer to our immigrant communities, and that is why we are here today,” she said. “We are hoping that we are going to become this administration’s worst nightmare.”
This morning, Reuters reported that Trump met with representatives from the Fraternal Order of Police and assured them that he wouldn't cut federal funding to local police departments that refuse to turn their officers into agents of his Deportation Force:
Trump met on Tuesday with police union leaders. Sessions was at the meeting, too, along with Vice President Mike Pence, said Jim Pasco, executive director of the union.
Trump told the group that the policy on sanctuary cities was a work in progress and that he would work with the union to make sure public safety would not be affected, Pasco said.
Trump's reassurances clashed with Sessions' announcement, when he said, "The Department of Justice will require jurisdictions seeking or applying for department grants to certify compliance" with federal immigration law "as a condition for receiving these awards."
This victory for the resistance didn't happen because Democratic Leaders like State Senator Aaron Ford appeased Donald Trump's gigantic ego. This victory happened because Mayors. Governors. and City Councilwoman didn't give (as former Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley calls him) our "fascist carnival barker," of a President an inch. Instead, Mayors and Governors held strong and told Donald Trump if he forced them to violate trust painstakingly built over the years with their communities, that subsequent increases in violent crime would be the President's fault. And then Donald Trump, in what only came as a surprise to Senator Aaron Ford, folded like the coward that he is.
This entire episode should remind us of the importance of local & state governments. And inspire some to run for unsung local and state offices, which can and should be the front lines in our battle against Donald Trump's radical presidency. We Democrats could certainly do better than "leaders" like Aaron Ford.