White House reviewing plan to move illegal migrants to sanctuary cities

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has said that President Donald Trump's prospective plan to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities is undergoing a "complete and thorough review."

Sanders told "Fox News Sunday" that they "have to look at all options," including releasing undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities, to deal with the situation at the nation's southern border with Mexico, Xinhua reported on Sunday.

"Whether or not it moves forward -- that's yet to be determined. This was raised at a staff level, initially, and pushed back on," she said.

"The President wants us to explore it again, and that's being done, and they are doing a complete and thorough review."

Trump threatened "placing illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities only" earlier this week, while blaming the country's immigration laws on Democrats.

The US President claimed on Twitter on Saturday that the US "has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to sanctuary cities."

"We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California," he added.

The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats.

Sanctuary cities in the US are known as local jurisdictions that refrain from cooperating with federal authorities and detain undocumented immigrants for possible deportation.

Trump has been reshuffling the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration and border security, in the push for a tougher direction in immigration enforcement.

--IANS

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