Small and Medium Enterprise Management (SBA) announcement Relocating six regional offices from the often-called “sanctuary cities,” claiming that existing locations are bad for small business communities and are not complying with federal immigration laws.
The SBA has moved offices from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle to “more accessible locations that are costly and more accessible,” and is suitable for the business community in accordance with immigration law, agency administrator Kelly Roefler said Thursday.
“We are pleased to announce today that this agency will be relocating local offices from the sanctuary city that cuts access to illegal foreign loans and rewards criminal activity,” Loeffler said in a statement.
“We will work with local governments that share this administration's commitment to ensuring borders and safe communities to focus on empowering legally qualified business owners across the United States,” she added.
The announcement did not share which new locations local offices would be relocating to.
The term “sanctuary city” usually refers to a municipality that “refuses to fully cooperate with federal detention requests related to undocumented immigration.” Britannica. They are regularly criticized by GOP lawmakers.
House Oversight Committee Hearing Wednesday – Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D), New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) – Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FLA) told them she would direct the Department of Justice to refer to Judicial Adams (DOJ).
“You're all talking about the broken immigration system, and here you're supporting and betting the whole process,” Luna said.
Trump said last year that if he was elected president, he would call on Congress to pass a law banning sanctuary cities.
“As soon as I take office, we will soon be hunting down and catching all the failed cities of federal law enforcement (many of them surge to take over criminal foreigners, and we will hunt down and capture all the gang members, drug dealers, rapists, murderers and immigrant criminals who are being accused of illegally,” Trump said at a rally in Wilmington in September.
Loeffler also said Thursday that businesses cannot obtain SBA loans if the owner is not “in whole or in part” American citizen.
“Under President Trump, the SBA is committed to putting American citizens first again, starting by ensuring that zero taxpayer dollars will fund illegal aliens,” Loeffler said.
