2020 hopeful and Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee said his home state would welcome illegal immigrants should President Trump follow through with the idea to place illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities.
Inslee, whose state has several sanctuary cities, including Seattle, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Trump’s threat isn’t really a threat.
“You can’t threaten somebody with something they are not afraid of. And we are not afraid of diversity in the state of Washington. We relish it,” Inslee said. “ … We’re built as a state of immigrants. We have welcomed refugees.”
Inslee called Trump’s comments “yet another act of bombastic chaos” and said placing immigrants in sanctuary cities would not work for Trump. Inslee also noted his state’s push back on other Trump polices, including the “Muslim ban.”
During an interview Sunday on ABC, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the idea of gathering up illegal immigrants and sending them to sanctuary cities that have policies in place preventing them from cooperating with federal officials on immigration is “an option on the table,” but is not the administration’s first choice.
When asked by host Chuck Todd how he would respond to the border crises differently, Inslee said he would try to make more paths for legal immigration into the United States. He said there needs to be more “channels” and “more hearing officers to simply be able to process these cases.”
“We need more processing facilities to help these folks,” Inslee said, tying in the topic of climate change by adding, “The world is aflame in climate change refugees and civil war.”
Inslee is vying to be the Democratic candidate in 2020 and has predicated his campaign largely on highlighting climate change, but is far from frontrunner status. A RealClearPolitics average of polls has him at 0.8% nationally.
